Personnel: Bradley Grace (vocals, bass instrument, foot stamps, background vocals); Jeffrey Moriera (vocals); Ryan Primack, Ryan Primack (guitar, keyboards); Brad Clifford, Brad Clifford (guitar); Christopher Hornbrook (drums, percussion).

Recording information: Castle Oaks Production; The Candy Shop Studios.

South Florida quintet Poison the Well have, through years of constant touring, major label forays, and numerous personnel changes, garnered one of the most storied careers within the post-hardcore scene. While some argue that the group hit their high point on the classic 1999 album THE OPPOSITE OF DECEMBER, faltering somewhat on followups such as the disjointed, Spaghetti Western-tinged VERSIONS (2007), they appear to have rebounded nicely and with a newfound energy and focus for their fifth full-length effort, THE TROPIC ROT (2009). Balancing their progressive tendencies and highly attuned melodic instincts with the typical metalcore formula of hard-verse-melodic-chorus, the album's mix of forceful energy and boundless musical scope proves PTW's position as leaders in an increasingly crowded post-hardcore field.