Poison The Well

Camden Barfly, London - 11 Apr 2008

by Simon T Diplock

Nevermind the competition, here's Poison The Well

"From the first song the band brim with enough energy to power the whole building and play so vehemently that there could be a brand new angry act behind the noise. And they don’t stop to soak up the screamed praise either, they just plough forwards- getting harder, faster, sharper, and better as they go"

April looks like being a fantastic month for London’s heavy music fans. Hell, Misery Signals, Devil Sold His Soul, Holy Fuck, and The Sword have already hit the capital and we’re only two weeks in. Tonight though, the big smoke has got it too good. With Integrity playing at the Old Blue Last, Every Time I Die at the re-re-named Astoria2 and Poison The Well at the Barfly, there might be just too much to choose from. For New-Noise though, the pick is easy. Okay, so we already caught ETID in Oxford, but Poison The Well are a band that deserve some respect.

There’s a history here see. These Floridians have been producing intelligent, exciting, and ever-more inventive hardcore for a decade now and, unlike some, they keep coming back to the UK to play it too. Seriously, London owes them at least a half-full Barfly. What London gives them though is a room rammed with devoted fans, desperate to sing along again. That loyalty is paid off a thousand fold within the first few seconds of ‘12/23/93’, a song so brimming with energy it could power the whole building and played so vehemently it could be a brand new band behind the noise. They don’t stop to soak up the screamed praise either, they just plough forwards, getting harder, faster, sharper, and better as they go.

‘Rings From Corona’ is so thick, textured, and dynamic that it sounds like there are a thousand people plugged in on the Barfly's small stage. Frontman Jeff Moreira cements his spot as one of hardcore’s finest voices through the beautiful and brutal turns of ‘The Realist’ while the far newer songs from last year’s stunning ‘Versions’ album slot neatly next to ’99 classic ‘Slice Paper Wrists’.  It's proof of just how consistent the whole band has always been.

After a rioutous closing ‘Nerdy’ there is no encore, there isn’t enough ego in this band for that, but the set has been so perfectly-weighted that no one is calling for one anyway. Sure, those folks a few miles across town watching Poison The Well’s labelmates Every Time I Die will have had a good time, guaranteed, but those that decided to stick here, in this tiny room with this terrific band, will thank themselves for making the right decision all the way home and then some. Wonderful.

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