The Triumphant return of Poison the well with New album “Peace in place”
Photo Credit: Sarai Kelley @photosbysarai
Poison The Well claimed the spotlight in the late 90s and early 2000s though several hard hitting albums. Though they have toured over the years, it was an unexpected but welcome surprise to see them releasing new music earlier this year. Now, after nearly seventeen years of silence Peace In Place is available for all of us to enjoy
Listen to “Peace In Place” here
“Wax Mask” opens with heartbreaking pleading clean vocals. When it breaks out into the harsher side it's an aggressive and devastating shock. The way the chorus echoes gives this distant out-of-body experience. As though listening to the song through someone else. It does an amazing job setting the tone for the full album by showcasing all the best parts of it. Beyond the duality of the vocals, the guitar shifts between galloping chugging and ethereal melodies. Even the drums bring a similar energy through the startling cymbals hitting those sudden crashing points. It feels like a sudden, rapid descent.
Poison the Well announced this new era with their single “Thoroughbreds”. Covered in full on a previous Evaporated Magazine announcement, this song (and its companion music video) created a fascinating world of reckoning with things that won't stay buried. The galloping tempo makes it an exciting listen. The slight twang to it in the guitar provides a sense of style that divorces from the typical.
This release also comes with the premier of the “Weeping Tones” music video. Taking place in Coleridge, Nebraska the video shows a man traversing various scenes of tragedy and conflict only to return, battered and worn, to their home. Unlike the “Thoroughbreds” video there is no jump between the band and the storyline. To fully commit to the cinematic moment really drives home the message.
"There's a quiet loss of control that comes from feeling like you can't fully be yourself anymore,” offers singer Jeffrey Moreira. “When you have to shrink who you are just to avoid judgment or conflict, it starts to feel like something is being taken from you. That's what 'Weeping Tones' is about.”
“Drifting Without End” was my personal standout. Beautifully expansive, the song embraces that cosmic sensation. Every note is drawn out. The ebb and flow of the tempo changes carries you into weightlessness. The bassline has a deeper presence on this track. It's given a lot of time to shine in the moments where the rest of the instruments fall away. Like stars bursting into being there are these bright moments where the whole band comes into play in a cacophony of sound.
“Plague Them The Most” is the closing track to the album and it pulls out a rather controversial move; the false end. The near ten minute song starts with those signature gauzy vocals. The haze comes to an abrupt end once the heavier vocals chime in. It's a reckoning set to unyielding guitar and rapid fire drums. Punctuated by three minutes of silence that gives way to the most soothing clean vocals feels like embracing a new beginning. It's beautiful and sweet in a way that completely transforms the energy of the album. Rising from the ashes into something new.
Peace In Place Tracklist
"Wax Mask"
"Primal Bloom"
"Thoroughbreds"
"Everything Hurts"
"Weeping Tones"
"A Wake Of Vultures"
"Bad Bodies"
"Drifting Without End"
"Melted"
"Plague Them The Most"
Watch the music video for “Weeping Tones” below
Poison The Well will be making a tour run starting in April as Converge will support with Balmora, SPY, The Armed, and The Barbarians of California appearing on different segments.
