Review Summary: Bullet for My Valentine have grown as songwriters in the two years since The Poison, and I look forward for more and more improvement, and this is an especially solid from the Welsh quartet
Bullet for My Valentine is like Dragonforce for me, I can’t take them seriously, nor can I stand a lot of the lyrics, but they released an album that was fun to listen to in
The Poison. Many metal elitists on this site will tell you that their debut was crap because the vocals sucked, the guitar work and drums were average, or that they just plain didn’t like the album. I though, enjoyed that album mainly for two reasons: (1) It brought me into the deeper realms of metal by eventually introducing me to In Flames, Children of Bodom, and even Blind Guardian. Secondly, I thought it was really good back when it came out, and still even pop it in my CD player every now and then as well.
The Poison turned out to be a massive hit with the mainstream community. Bullet became one of the main metal bands in the world joining the likes of Atreyu, Trivium, and Avenged Sevenfold. While all four of these bands aren’t even remotely close to being the best metal band in the world, their success has been amazing.
Scream Aim Fire is the second release from this Welsh band. It also just happens that the start of this album is the s/t track
Scream Aim Fire . From the beginning, you notice that BMFV has definitely changed their style. The guitars are faster, especially in the first 20 seconds of this song, and it’s a turn for the better. Matt Tuck comes in with less of a scream that he had in The Poison. Some people say that this is more like a James Hetfield type vocal style, but I disagree. His British accent is noticeable in this song. As for the rest of the song, it’s quite good. The chorus is the best part as it doesn’t let up throughout. This song makes the rest of the album look promising.
Sadly though, this starts to turn into what happened with The Poison, the quality of the good songs can’t be replicated during the course of the whole album.
Eye of the Storm is just dreadful. It sounds like a Metallica b-side from a Metallica tribute band. This song wouldn’t have even made it on
St. Anger if Metallica recorded it. The solo is ok, but this is pretty awful overall.
Waking the Demon sort of follows in the vein of what was released from
The Poison. The screams are present throughout the song, but like Eye of the Storm, it just doesn’t deliver. While it is the heaviest song on here, it just blows. Next up is
Disappear. It sounds just like Waking the Demon in the beginning, but it isn’t as heavy. This sounds like it’s going to be another bad song, which is starts off like it, but THANKFULLY, the chorus saves the whole song. It’s extremely catchy, and joins the awesome solo as the best part of the song. Sadly though, those are the only good things about this song as it is boring, but not exactly bad.
Deliver Us From Evil is another mediocre song, and is ridiculously too long, clocking in at 5:57. The best part of this song is the build up to the solo at about 3:21. For once, you can hear the bass, and it’s pretty decent as well. Matt sings the lyrics during the build up and it leads into the solo with clean and scream vocals of the verse, “We’re Evil.” After the solo is more trade offs of screaming and clean vocals. I like the screams more than the clean, and it would’ve made this song 5 times better if it was all screams.
After reviewing half the album, one would ask why I have given this a 3 after I have negged all of the songs except the first track. Well, the best of the best tracks on here should be saved for last, and that is exactly what I am doing.
Lets backtrack a bit to the third track entitled
Hearts Burst Into Fire. This is the best opening on this disk, and is my favorite solo as well. This is a very solid song, and one of the best on here. I am impressed with Matt’s vocals in this one as well. His accent during the chorus actually makes this song a bit more special than many on here.
Moving ahead, we land at the song
Say Goodnight, which lies in the vein of
All These Things I Hate Revolve Around Me from The Poison. It is slow throughout and then explodes for about 30 seconds during the three to four minute mark. It is slow again until the end when we get more screams and the pace picks up to finish the song.
End of Days is the
Room 409 on the this album. Aggressive and unyielding throughout, this song is the most reminiscent of The Poison. Though repetitive, this is the best song to just headbang to and I can see this becoming a fan favorite for live shows.
Last to Know and
Forever and Always are the final two songs from
Scream Aim Fire.
Last to Know is my second favorite song from this disk. Lyrcially, I have no clue what is being said during the screams, and Matt’s clean vocals are repetitive, but this song just plain rules. Michael Thomas, the drummer, gives my a solid performance from behind the drum set.
Forever and Always clocks in at 6:48, making it the longest song BMFV has done, but is repetitive. Many bits and pieces from this song remind me a bit of Slash, which is a pretty unique approach for this group, but the approach is solid. The last two minutes is basically the same riff over and over again, with a little change here and there. That made this song a bit too long for my tasting.
Finally, we reach the pinnacle of perfection for Bullet for My Valentine.
Take It Out On Me is 5:51 seconds of awesomeness. This incorporates everything in the group’s arsenal. Here, we get a guest appearance from Benji Webbe of Skindred. Now I have never heard of him before this, but his vocals give a new aspect to the song. Matt is even at his best during the verses and chorus too, so the vocals are nothing to really complain about. The pre-chorus and chorus are just plain awesome, and is repeated throughout the whole song. Benji’s singing, which to me sounds like the lead singer of Coheed and Cambria a bit, of the second verse that leads to the pre-chorus and chorus is one of the best parts of Bullet’s career. The best part though at 3 minutes. The song slows down, and we get nothing short of beautiful vocals from Benji and even Matt. The drums give off a simple but very effective beat, and the guitars are nothing short of spectacular. At the 4 minute mark, we get a scream that leads into a very melodic guitar solo that lasts close to a minute. The song finished off with the pre-chorus and chorus, and a scream of “Take your Frustration on me.” This song is plain epic.
Bullet for My Valentine’s second album is a complete change from The Poison. While using influences from their first album to record this one, this is a radical change. Trivium and Avenged Sevenfold’s change may have been for the worse, but this is better in some aspects than the debut. The bad from this album is worse than the bad from The Poison, but the good is easily better than the good from The Poison. If you want to jumpstart into the metal scene, I wouldn’t say that this is a perfect place to start, but songs like Scream Aim Fire, Last to Know, and my personal favorite Take it Out on Me would be a great place to start.
Bullet for My Valentine have grown as songwriters in the two years since The Poison, and I look forward for more and more improvement, and this is an especially solid from the Welsh quartet
