Album review: Poison The Well – Peace In Place

There are few things in music as daunting as a comeback album. Both for the fans, who wait with bated breath to see that the band they love are still able to deliver, and for the band, who need to ensure they’ve not been left behind by the passage of time and taste. But for metalcore legends Poison The Well, their first album in 17 years shows that they haven’t lost a single step in their time away.

On a bed of ominous feedback, Jeff Moreira croons ‘I’ll change my colours and show myself out‘ at the top of Peace In Place, before Wax Mask bursts into the ragged fury and enthralling dynamism that made them such a crucial proponent of heavy music. As they approach 30 years as a band, they sound just as vivid as ever, their mastery of the sound they pioneered dripping from every note.

Across 10 tracks and 36 minutes, they run the gamut of all metalcore has become. Jeff’s clean vocals on Everything Hurts are arresting. The chugging breakdown of ‘Thoroughbreds’ is destructive. The softer tones of album closer Plague Them The Most are offset by one final vicious flourish to end proceedings. The machine-gun fire drumming of Bad Bodies, meanwhile, could set an army marching.

While nothing on Peace In Place is quite as unhinged or freewheeling as their pre-hiatus classics, there is still a distinct air of it being a Poison The Well record as fans have come to know and love them. Jeff still sounds fantastic in all modes, and the riffs on offer – particularly on Primal Bloom and Weeping Tones – are as potent as ever.

Poison The Well walked so that the likes of Bring Me The Horizon, I Prevail and Bad Omens could run, but, in a somewhat full-circle moment, with Peace In Place, it turns out they’re still right in step with the biggest metalcore bands of today.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Converge, Norma Jean, Better Lovers

Peace In Place is released on March 20 via SharpTone. Get your limited-edition Poison The Well vinyl and photo book now.