The Opposite of December

The Opposite of December

Track Listings

1. 12/23/93

2. Wish for Wings That Work

3. Artist's Rendering of Me

4. Slice Paper Wrists

5. Nerdy

6. To Mandate Heaven

7. Not Within Arms Length

8. Mid-Air Love Message

9. My Mirror No Longer Reflects

Tracks:

12/23/93
Wish for Wings That Work
Artist's Rendering of Me
Slice Paper Wrists
Nerdy
To Mandate Heaven
Not Within Arms Length
Mid-Air Love Message
My Mirror No Longer Reflects

Album Description

Poison The Well build off of the South Florida sound that hardcore kids have come to embrace over the past few years; they make hardcore all encompassing. Imagine mixing the musical and vocal stylings from Harvest with the pure emotion that is found on a Boy Sets Fire record, and the tight and devastating clean guitar riffing of Meshuggah, and you will only begin to appreciate what Poison The Well is. Fans of all genres of hardcore/metal will adore this new album. Beautifully executed, dynamically crushing, and with a spectacular live show, Miami's newest rockers are poised to knock your socks off. Emotions and anger induced passion have never sounded this impeccably sweet when transferred to music.

Customer Reviews:

I've learned my lesson on agreeing with people..........2006-07-04

Darkprince, I've heard a lot of people say PTW fall out of sync a lot on this album and to be honest I'm too busy rocking out and enjoying the album to notice so I'm willing to give you all the benefit of the doubt. But to say this album is not emotional is just plain spiteful. You were angry when you wrote your review, as was I, and admittedly that makes for some pretty bad reviews. I have a couple of corrections to your review then I'm going somewhere else with this.

The double bass drum, when used in excess, is annoying and that's why PTW only touched on this lightly. And two the vocals are good/bad depending on who you ask. My acquaintance Nic likes metal, like you. In your defense however you like some underground stuff that I've, admittedly, never heard. I think that gives you some credibility and you've earned SOME of my respect. Anyways Nic doesn't like the vocals cuz he likes some pansyass crap.

Look, I don't care if people like metal, hardcore, grindcore, trance, whatever. But it's when people cross over the fence and give bad reviews is when you, literally, cross the line. I obviously don't have a lot of nice things to say about metal, which is exactly why you're not seeing me go over to a metal CD and giving it one star. That's pointless and it wastes everyone's time. Reviews are about how a band or album stand in its own genre. In this case, hardcore and in this case amazing. Good day.

"Emotional"? Uh... No........2006-06-23

In response to erikguy's review: Aren't life's little ironies funny? In several of your reviews, you've been heard to attack "stupid 80's metalheads" over their taste in music, calling them, among other things: "retarded" and "cowardly." Yet in your recent review of Funeral For A Friend's album "Hours," you actually sided with my negative opinion of the album. I, who proudly proclaim myself to be - in your words - a "stupid 80's metalhead."

On to the album then. Yep, it really is pretty abysmal. The guitar and bass work, for the most part, consists of chunky power chords strung together sloppily. The result sounds fragmented, dull, crude and just generally badly written. For an album which so many proclaim to be so "emotional," you would think it would at least convey some sense of melody, but there's none to be found.

The drumming is equally poor. It's made up of repetitive and simpliatic rhythms, heavily reliant on the snare drum, which fail to synchronise well with the guitars. The double bass pedal, on the rare occasions when it is used, is mainly used in short bursts to beat along with one repeated chord from the guitar, which is not only pointless, but gives us the (probably correct) impression that Poison The Well are such incompetent songwriters that they are incapable of incorporating the double bass into the overall song structures. Even the album's speed is done wrong; it rarely rises above mid-tempo, and thereby failing to give any impression of energy, even while the opportunity to go for an anthemic approach instead is wasted.

And then there are the vocals, possibly the most disappointing element of this album altogether. They consist mainly of weak, high pitched wails, which not only grate the ears, but also clash badly with the music. Occasionally we have short bursts of lower moans which I assume are passed off as this album's clean vocals. I have yet to hear another such incompetent singer. Possibly the only redeeming factor of this album is the production, which is clean enough, and you can hear the bass, even if the drums are flat and over-produced, a failing common of the hardcore/metalcore genre.

In conclusion then, my message is pretty simple. If you want angry, emotional music, powerfully evocative guitar work and rabid drumming, tortured howls dredging up inner agony, then for the love of God, BUY SOMETHING ELSE! Pick up "Slaughter Of The Soul" by At The Gates, if you want some idea of what I'm talking about.

Poison the Well - 1999.......2006-04-12

This is Poison the Well's first major release on Trustkill Records, home of many hardcore acts. It is also the first record introducing Jeffrey Moreira [vocals]. He does an outstanding job and it would come to show on later records that his skill as a singer/songwriting are nearly unmatched in the "Screamo" genre. Poison the Well is also skilled at catching you off guard with a softer more melodic feel fresh out of being battered by brash hardcore breakdowns with interesting time signature changes, noted especially in "Mid-Air Love Message" and "12-23-93." The lyrics are great and even the clear spots sound good. This is an amazing release given it was a time when "Nu-Metal" was peaking and hardcore was still fused with punk rock elements, and before all these Metalcore shenanigans/hooligans were even born. This album is a must if your a fan of Misery Signals, Skycamefalling, or 7 Angels 7 Plagues.

Great stuff.......2006-02-22

This is a very good, intense CD from start to finish. There is no time to breathe when this CD is playing, its just pure kick you in the face screams over powerful guitars and drums. As another person said, the screams dont become annoying, it has just the right sound to it with just the right amount of spoken words. If you want one of the best hardcore CDs out there then you must own this. Only complaint is the length of the album, a bit too short, but every minute is worth listening,, so buy it.

intense.......2006-02-06

this album is the first full length of one of the best hardcore/metal/whatever-you-want-to-call-it bands out there. although the album length is a bit on the short side, not one filler song is present. it is very evident a fair bit of thought went into creating the songs (impressive drumming and guitar throughout the entire album). this was one of the first/best bands that began implementing melody into the traditional hardcore/metal styles, and the impact they're had is enormous. it's hard to come by other albums that pack this much energy in their music. the lyrics are very well written (nerdy has to be one of the best love poems every written), and the timing of non-screaming vocals is very well placed and well executioned (tracks 1, 2, 5 are all great examples of this). some people complain of the production of this album, i would not want these songs done any other way (while later albums are still incredible in their own ways, this one by far has the most raw energy in it).