Dead Poetic is back with their sophomore effort New Medicines. Prior to reviewing this album, I had never heard anything from Dead Poetic. Therefore, I cannot do much of a "compare and contrast" job, pertaining to their last release versus their new one. But, on its own, this is one fantastic record that should appeal to not only Solid State Records fans, but also to rock and emo fans alike.

Dead Poetic mixes blazing guitars with the heavy screams that hardcore fans will love. But Brandon Rike displays his abilities on the other side of the vocal scale. In fact, a very good portion of this entire disc is made up of Rake's melodic voice, making for what sounds like a more emo-influenced Blindside.

Lyrically, Dead Poetic relies rather heavily on violent metaphors to get their usually cryptic message across. "Venus Empty" talks about the destructive nature of following the world's systems and ways, "So Vanity's got this new gun that she wants to try on you. And as we stand here waiting for the sound…And no one says a word from there on out." "Molotov" speaks of similar subjects, "Put your back to them all. I swear they're not getting you there…It's not real. So I refuse to breathe from these machines again."

New Medicines is easily one of my favorite discs of the year, thus far. Dead Poetic is one of those bands you get excited about discovering, and you will not soon forget. I cannot wait to see what they are capable of in the future.

- Review date: 04/04/04, written by Josh Taylor