Poison The Well - Tear From The Red

It's always nice to see bands not feel like they have to sound particular way because they belong to [x] genre. Poison The Well is very much a hardcore band, which they proved with their debut LP, Opposite Of December. However, their new album, Tear From The Red, undeniably pushes the boundaries of the hardcore genre. Take that for what you will. From the opening notes of "Bothcla", frontman Jeffery Moreira utters the prettiest notes you'll probably ever hear on a hardcore album. Some may argue that it is unquestionably un-hardcore of them, but it captured my attention instantly. While the majority of the album can be described as hardcore, they still slip melodic elements into the vocals and the music, even if only for a moment. "Rings From Corona", "Lazzaro", and "Parks And What You Meant To Me" are three great examples of bringing together hardcore elements and melody. Half of the album tails off a bit though; some songs start off or introduce very interesting ideas, but then wander into another segment or return to more routine concepts. Also, there are some songs where the band seems to drift too far from their strength, which is ...crushing hardcore music. For instance, "Horns And Tails" is an acoustic ballad that seems like it should be a Smashing Pumpkins b-side. I applaud the band for experimenting, but there's a point when you know a band has gone too far in the wrong direction. Tear From The Red is at the least a decent album, so I'll give it 3.0. The third track, "Turn Down Elliot", which I believe is the pinnacle of the record, tells me Poison The Well still has promise for the future. However, since this is a review of their current album, I have to say that it's about a 60/40 split for me (some days it's more like 50/50). Enjoying about half the songs on a 10-track album (when one of them is basically just Marlon Brando giving his famous speech at the end of Apocalypse Now) is nothing incredible in my book, but it's acceptable. [www.poisonthewell.com]