Poison The Well. After basically failing to make a mark with their only major label release, one of the former leaders of the whole metalcore movement has now managed to stray pretty far from what they helped create, with the release of 'Versions'.

Opening track "Letter Thing" seems to find the band taking a cue from Rebel Meets Rebel, with it's bluegrass/country-esque leaning. (Extreme Country??). Although PTW manage to maintain the screaming, which gives it more of an edge. Track two "Breathing's for the Bird's" has more of a latter day Deftones feel to it initially, with the laid back approach, but midway through the band takes it back to their signature sound.

"Nagaina" again comes out of left field, with an almost stoner rock Kyuss vibe to it for the majority of the track. It's not until past the halfway mark that it begins to sound more like classic Poison The Well. "The Notches That Create Your Headboard" comes in with more of a classic sounding hardcore assault, and the track is actually rather short, which is also typical of classic hardcore. The band once again twists things up on this track though, with more banjo and slide guitar country/bluegrass stylings.

The rest of the album continues meshing styles, throwing in hardcore punk, experimental/stoner Deftones-esque stylings, and country/bluegrass and mixing it all in with the signature Poison The Well  sound. It definitely makes for a very different, rather interesting listening experience.

It's going to be quite interesting to see how much this album influences the throngs of bands out there who have ridden on the coat-tails of Poison The Well since their early days of sharing the metalcore crown with Orange County's Eighteen Visions. Having given up the crown to Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying, Poison The Well obviously see no reason to go down with a sinking ship. And with the release of 'Versions', they've made certain to rid themselves of the 'metalcore' tag altogether.

For those of you who are looking for another run of the mill metalcore album, steer clear of Poison The Well, as "Versions" is definitely NOT for you. On the other hand, for those of you who are looking for something different, far removed from metalcore's formulaic chugging riffs and predictable breakdowns, run out and grab a copy of "Versions". It will easily raise a few eyebrows, and change more than a few minds.