Rumor has it that Florida hardcore trendsetters Poison the Well will release their next album on a major label, and much of the hype surrounding the band can be attributed to this disc, their second on the New Jersey indie Trustkill. It’s easy to see what’s got the kids so excited: few groups in the genre have explored dynamics to such an extreme, and singer Jeff Moreira likes beauty as much he does violence.

The opening "Botchla" kicks off with a tender acoustic-guitar and vocal lament, then shifts into a sick hardcore breakdown and, finally, a heavy pop chorus. Deftones are the obvious reference point here, especially when Moreira slips into a dream-pop lilt between his whispers and screams. The commercial-rock comparisons extend to the rest of the band, who reject the math tests and footraces that often define metalcore in favor of simple, effective brutality. On the disc’s most ambitious cut, "Turn Down Elliot," this makes the quiet moments more haunting and the amped-up melodies catchier. Poison the Well are not the first band to explore pop within hardcore’s noisy framework, but they do it naturally enough that they just might pull off the notoriously difficult transition into the world of big-budget rock.

(Poison the Well open for Strung Out next Saturday, June 8, at Karma. Call 617-423-NEXT.)