Review Summary: A killer return from Metalcore OGs
Poison the Well's influence on modern metalcore truly cannot be overstated. Along with peers such as Converge, Botch, Zao, Dillinger Escape Plan, Shai Hulud, they were the OG class of metalcore bands back in the late 90s/early 2000s when the genre was really being formed. Contrast to what a lot of current bands under that label sound like, this was a wave of bands who were essentially mixing the energy and spirit of hardcore punk with the heaviness of metal.
The Opposite Of December stands up there as one of the true genre-defining albums of that period, and album which still sounds fresh, experimental and exciting even today. Bands like Poison The Well essentially blazed the trail which your Bring Me The Horizons, Architects, Bad Omens, etc etc all walk on today.
After 2009’s
Tropic Rot, the band quietly wound down. No dramatic breakup — just life happening. And for a long time, it felt like that was it. While they have done the odd show here and there, they were one-offs. Until early 2025 when they announced they were back properly and working on an album and embarked on a series of tours. And here we are with
Peace In Place. A pretty killer return album that puts Poison The Well straight back to the top of the pack of the metalcore scene, atleast in terms of quality. This isn’t a retreat to their old sound, instead it feels like Poison the Well stepping back into the room as grizzled veterans who have had their fire reignited and are ready to blow the doors off. But it’s a fire forged from life experience and adulthood rather than youthful idealism.
Pretty much the entire first half of this album is a run of bangers that are super intense, loud and high energy. There’s no concern here about Poison The Well getting soft with age. The sheer number of absolutely whiplash-inducing, building destroying breakdowns to be had across this album could put any other band to shame.
“Wax Mask” is a hard hitting opener, and then we have
“Primal Bloom”, a high energy barn-burner with these sick stop-start elements, badass shredding and a colossal breakdown. The entire last minute and half of this track is just ***ing massive. The lead single,
‘Thoroughbreds’ has this awesome marching riff heading into the closing breakdown which absolutely rules.
‘Everything Hurts’ pairs the clean melodic sections and chorus nicely against the ***ing crushing heavy sections and breakdowns. Probably my favourite of the many great breakdowns here, I love the ever-so slight slowdown on the one riff, the whole section sounds mega.
This album is some gruff, manly, badass ***, but not in a lame bro-y tough guy way - as in this sounds rugged, gritty and will put hair on your chest. Jeffrey Moriera’s harsh vocals and the breakdowns hit like a truck.
Despite Will Putney’s production style continuing to do its best to sap the flavour out of the tones of the instruments, the performances across the board are impressive. The drums have lots of cool flourishes throughout, like the machine gun rhythm on
‘Bad Bodies’ and the stuttering fills on
‘Melted’. The sheer number of different riffs and rhythms the guitars move through is crazy. Even on individual tracks, they’re rarely staying in the same pattern for too long, as we move through badass shreds, grooves, melodic licks and huge breakdowns constantly. Jeffrey Moreira’s vocals again are super powerful and super gritty.
Peace In Place does at times feel like the natural continuation from
Tropic Rot as several moments feel like they would fit on that album, such as the twangy countrycore riffs on
‘Thoroughbreds’ or the almost eerie vibe on the chorus for
‘Weeping Tones’. I would also say
‘Bad Bodies’ could handily fit right in on
You Come Before You as it’s a straight up balls out assault that goes hard as ***.
The back third of the album does lose some steam around
“Drifting Without End”.
“Melted” has cool ideas and some huge riffs, but can’t match the ferocity of the earlier tracks. The energy returns somewhat on the closer
“Plagued Them the Most” especially with those rapid-fire chugs throughout, but the super-secret-surprise track after that actually does feel like a more fitting closer as strikes a more melodic and emotional tone.
So yeah this album dips late slightly , but its more a case of the first half setting a high bar. And despite those weaker moments, the overall impression is still one of a band proving they’ve got miles of fuel left in the tank. The aggressive heavy sections hits hard hard as hell, and the maturity in the song writing shows.
Peace In Place is a strong, confident return from a band who helped define the genre, and it shows the young pups could still learn a thing or too from them. While not as essential as
The Opposite Of December or as balls to the wall as
You Come Before You, still a killer release that adds to the bands legacy.
Full video review - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wuo64DVTV_w
