Poison The Well’s Jeffrey Moreira Reflects On ‘Selling Out’ As Band Return With First Album In 15 Years
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Poison The Well never really chased the victory lap, according to vocalist Jeffrey Moreira, that reputation came with its own headaches along the way.
Florida pioneers Poison The Well release their new album ‘Peace In Place’ next Friday, March 20th, their first in 15 years, the comeback also arrives as a new generation of heavy bands continues pushing the genre further into the mainstream.
Looking back, Moreira says the band never viewed themselves as the architects of what came next:
“I don’t feel like, ‘We walked so those bands could run!’ or anything like that [laughs],” Moreira told Kerrang!.
“They had to leave stuff behind, spend years on tour, play shit venues, and slowly build themselves to this point. That’s what anyone does following their dream. It’s great that fans are more accepting now. We were called sell-outs just for signing to Atlantic, even though we put out arguably the heaviest record on Atlantic at that point. I’m happy that bands don’t have to deal with that sh*t anymore.”
The Legacy Of A Metalcore Pioneer
Even if Moreira shrugs off the legacy talk, Poison The Well’s fingerprints are all over the genre’s evolution, bands like Spiritbox and Knocked Loose now headline massive tours, and the pathway those acts travel was partly carved by the early metalcore wave (per Metal Injection).
Moreira describes the band’s influence more modestly:
“Hopefully that much broader fanbase of acts like Spiritbox or Knocked Loose will go back and discover some of the awesome bands that came before.”
Writing ‘Peace In Place’
For the new album, Poison The Well weren’t interested in rewriting their history, they focused on capturing what the band naturally sounds like today.
“We’re writing to fulfill the things we love in this band. If any of us wanted to do anything different, we’d start another band,” Moreira said.
“Whether that’s made for ‘a classic’ is something that only time will tell. On The Opposite Of December…, we were just trying to get people to sing along. On You Come Before You, we wanted to have the heaviest record on a major label. Here we wanted an album that tastefully and respectfully understands what Poison The Well is – and an acknowledgement that Jeffrey likes a bunch of heavy sh*t.”
The Band Are Already Thinking About What’s Next
Even before ‘Peace In Place’arrives, the band are already talking about writing again.
“Beyond that? We’ve already talked about writing more songs. And more than the songs themselves, I think it’s a good sign that we’re already talking about the next record. Seeing the outcome of our labors has been a big motivator.”
“It hasn’t been easy. There were a bunch of blockades. But having that finished vinyl in your hands gives you such a massive high. So I guess now we’ll just keep making music until we don’t want to anymore – or until there’s no-one left to listen…”
