Atlantic / Wea
2003
You Come Before You
About This Album
More legendary even than their stylistic innovation are the squabbles of these metalcore heroes with their puritan fanbase. Unwilling to accept anything other than a punishing, straight-ahead a**-whupping, a considerable chunk of Poison the Well's fans either deserted the Florida quintet, or spent too much time and energy decrying the band's past forays into melody and glimmering hope. These naysayers will undoubtedly have an issue with You Come Before You, the group's third full-length, which arrives via Atlantic. But in their zeal to condemn, the elitists will miss out on one of the hardest and heaviest yet most dynamic records to be released on any label -- major or otherwise -- in quite a while. It's hard to avoid the blast radius of opener "Ghostchant." But what's most exciting about the track is its refusal to hang with cliché. Throughout its eyebrow-singeing verses, Jeff Moreira's throaty, anguished bellow always retains its vocal definition -- unlike too many groups that use the device and just sound silly. "Loved Ones," too, churns up a hardcore rhythm behind Moreira's scream, but skids on the head of a needle into a bridge that sets his eviscerating screed against a delicate guitar figure.
Track List (try tracks 1,7 and 9)

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