Review: “Things I Want” by Poison The Preacher

“We started working on these songs as soon as we finished writing our debut album, Vs The World, and these songs just came naturally to us. This new EP is easily the next step for us, a real evolution towards a more definitive and unique sound. It’s more refined, aggressive, harder and heavier. We are pulling inspiration from all over the place and this is a more accurate representation of all our influences. This is metal made for hardcore kids, but this is also hardcore made for metal-heads. With this new release, those lines between genres have blurred more and more. The EP talks about broken dreams, toxic purposes, things that you would give your entire life to, but they may never become true. It’s a testament to obsession and ambition, in both a good and a bad way. It’s okay to have a purpose, to have a dream that you want with all your heart, but you can’t let it consume you and destroy your life.” ~ Juan Pablo Carrera

Since emerging from the underground in Bogota Columbia, Poison The Preacher have been making a name for themselves globally with a volatile blend of Thrash, Hardcore, Death Metal and Latin-infused aggression. Last years “Vs The World” album was so well received that they’ve become the first Colombian band to be booked directly to play both Wacken Open Air and Obscene Extreme Festival this summer, making them one of the regions finest exports. Mixed and mastered by Charles Toshio (Sunami, Big Boy, Spy, Gulch) an EP in “Things I Want” is set to land before those performances take place, giving fans just enough time to learn the words…

The genre transcending title track “Things I Want” is a mighty fine example of what Poison The Preacher have been about since day one. Raging Death Metal guitars, pummelling percussion and rumbling bass get the track off to a fast and heavy start before moving into Crossover Thrash territory with some whammy bar action and squeals, the Hardcore stomp moments adding a spice that’s nice as barked vocals from Juan Pablo Carrera and Jem Siow of Speed intertwine. To call them Deathcore or Metallic Hardcore would be to pigeon hole them because their sound is so diverse that there is more to them than that. What’s incredible about it is that it flows with consummate ease like magma from a volcano to an obsidian river, the quartet clearly comfortable in the sound they’ve developed.

“Last Time I’ve Seen The Sun” might make you think of “Two Princess” by Spin Doctors as it has a similar drum pattern however that soon falls away as the buzz-saw guitars blaze a trail across the night sky, the savage vocal performance and classic Hardcore swagger very well worked. The gang chant moments add something else for crowd interaction when the band play this one live, the blood and thunder rhythmic battery more than enough to get a pit started.

Twisting and contorting into something with more Death Metal bite the staccato riff breaks and violent tirades of “Ran Out Of Options” confirm that this one is personal. The evil laughter in the background before a whammy bar drop and breakdown with an “Arf! Arf!” in the final third is going to make you want to snap your neck, the downtempo groove a pleasure you can’t measure. They say they started work on these tracks as soon as they finished “Vs The World” and in all honesty this collection genuinely sounds like they never left the studio.

The fight music continues with one final angry anthem in the blistering “Chicken Out“, it’s classic old school Thrash opening attack a throwback to 1982 before the quartet dive head first into the asphalt of Hardcore for a hard hitting verse. Another melting pot of genre blending of the highest order, this one finds them restricting themselves to two styles to inflict maximum damage, another whammy bar drop in the final moments enough to send a shiver down the spine. Poison The Preacher have a high calibre output with enough power to put a hole through your chest [7.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Things I Want (ft. Jem Siow of Speed)
2. Last Time I’ve Seen The Sun
3. Ran Out Of Options
4. Chicken Out

“Things I Want” by Poison The Preacher is out 17th July 2026 via Seek And Strike Records