Stickman-X-
//JonoPoison The Well II III
Poison The Well have been one band I never fully appreciated until recently, as when I first heard them I was going through a metal phase and was, ashamed as I am to admit it, uninterested in good post-hardcore. Obviously I have come to love them in more recent times and the other day I got my fingers on a copy of the I/III and II/III EP’s released on Nov 11, 2008 and Jan 20th, 2009.
The EP’s consists of two songs each, the first being New Fast and Purple Sabbath and the second comprising of Shuffle and Bowie, both of which are notably different in style to that I am accustomed to from their earlier releases such as You Came Before You and Tear From The Red.
I/II begins with the track New Fast which is a lot more reminiscent of their older songs, screams, melodic guitars interspersed with breaks of clean vocals and slower more mellow guitars and a swinging beat. To say that this was far from what I am used to with PTW would be a lie, it is easy to see the connection between these B-sides from Versions and the sound found in the bands fourth studio album, however it is a great leap from the sound produced in the bands opening three albums.
II/III is even more melodic, slow and droning, driven by a swinging beat and more mellow vocals than found on the I/III/
Shuffle still retains some of the familiar sound of songs like Ghost Chant and Botchla, however the screaming vocals are all but gone (unlike in I/III) replaced by a deep mellow, slightly harsh but still clean sound throughout the entire track.
Bowie stuck me as odd, in that the style strayed so greatly from that I am used to hearing from PTW. I’m not saying that they are new to experimenting with style (as is clear through their fourth studio album which varies greatly from the harsh post-hardcore sound found in the bands earlier work) but this was a droning, Alternative hard-rock song. It reminds me of bands like Cold in some way, and a slightly softer version of Project 86 in others. In fact in hindsight the entire EP reminds me very greatly of Project 86’s album And The Rest Will Follow (good album by the way. Not too heavy, not too soft, very listenable). And that is exactly what I/III and II/III are, an extremely listenable album by Poison The Well without being a standout album or something that really grabs you and makes u want to throw down in your bedroom.
Knowing that both EP’s comprise of B-sides from Versions it is understandable that the bands sound is now greatly different to that found in earlier albums, however I honestly hoped for a little more. I had hoped that these songs became B-sides because they were more like the old PTW and therefore did not fit perfectly into Versions and were subsequently left out.
A third ep will be released just before the bands next album due out in May, I dearly hope that it contains something a little more reminiscent of Tear From The Red, however ill take what they give me and I’ll probably enjoy it too.
I/II begins with the track New Fast which is a lot more reminiscent of their older songs, screams, melodic guitars interspersed with breaks of clean vocals and slower more mellow guitars and a swinging beat. To say that this was far from what I am used to with PTW would be a lie, it is easy to see the connection between these B-sides from Versions and the sound found in the bands fourth studio album, however it is a great leap from the sound produced in the bands opening three albums.
Shuffle still retains some of the familiar sound of songs like Ghost Chant and Botchla, however the screaming vocals are all but gone (unlike in I/III) replaced by a deep mellow, slightly harsh but still clean sound throughout the entire track.
Bowie stuck me as odd, in that the style strayed so greatly from that I am used to hearing from PTW. I’m not saying that they are new to experimenting with style (as is clear through their fourth studio album which varies greatly from the harsh post-hardcore sound found in the bands earlier work) but this was a droning, Alternative hard-rock song. It reminds me of bands like Cold in some way, and a slightly softer version of Project 86 in others. In fact in hindsight the entire EP reminds me very greatly of Project 86’s album And The Rest Will Follow (good album by the way. Not too heavy, not too soft, very listenable). And that is exactly what I/III and II/III are, an extremely listenable album by Poison The Well without being a standout album or something that really grabs you and makes u want to throw down in your bedroom.
Knowing that both EP’s comprise of B-sides from Versions it is understandable that the bands sound is now greatly different to that found in earlier albums, however I honestly hoped for a little more. I had hoped that these songs became B-sides because they were more like the old PTW and therefore did not fit perfectly into Versions and were subsequently left out.
A third ep will be released just before the bands next album due out in May, I dearly hope that it contains something a little more reminiscent of Tear From The Red, however ill take what they give me and I’ll probably enjoy it too.
