Review Summary: If You are into Bands like Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold, Trivium You should definitely pick this up.
Bullet For My Valentine's second EP which was released back in 2005 'Hand Of Blood' was one of their albums that didn't get the highest chart ratings but was great nevertheless. I first heard about this band while playing NFS: Most Wanted, and they continuously played This EP's title Track Hand Of Blood. So after I warmed up to this song, I went to the store and picked it up and yes I think It was one of the best albums I had bought till then. Hand of Blood is basically a 6-track, 20 minute enjoyment. The music doesn't last long, but for the 20 minutes I was playing it on the stereo, Pure Eargasms.
4 Words (To choke upon): So, the first song blasts off with a great intro, following was The Combination Of Matt and Jay's screams. It's commendable how Matt can change his voice from classic screams to the slow singing. Their Chorus was very catchy and their drums were fitting well into the tune. Their solo was one of the best I'd heard in a long time. 4.5/5
Hand Of Blood: I had already heard this song, before I bought this CD, this is probably one of the heaviest songs not only on this EP, but altogether in this band's discography. This song starts off with another great intro, the song is fast paced and very intelligently written. The chorus is again very addicting. The solo in this song, in my opinion is definitely the best on this album. This is a song on the album which is very hard not to re-listen to. 5/5
Cries In Vain: The song starts with a very slow solo and then hits into some fine tuned drumming and guitar work. Compared to the earlier songs, this song has got lesser screaming, this actually does add to the album as the songs were starting to sound repetitive. The chorus tells you what to expect from this band. At about 3:02 the best part of this song starts; a Rhythm solo by Matt followed by some seriously soft notes. And then a really awesome breakdown to break the silence with Jay's harsh screams. Leads to their chorus again. Yet it gets another soft part and still ends up ending with a scream. Simply the best song on this EP. 5/5
Curses: This song is the odd one out, This is the softest song on the EP. A very harmonically written song, this song shows you BFMV is not just about the screams. not to worry it does have some well-timed screams in it though. This song has some good guitar work. I wouldn't call this the best song on this EP for one reason; This is a good song, but it doesn't have more than one feature of it to offer you like it'd be singing and then Screams, I mean it would get easy to grow out of this song. 4.5/5
No Control: If this was your introduction to BFMV, I can bet you don't like this band right now. This band sounds like a bunch of College kids started jamming, and screaming onto the mic "I HAVE NO CONTROL" is what you probably told your friend if this was the first song by them you heard. This song would easily be the worst song on the album and also the heaviest. This song doesn't have the guitar capabilities to match some of the better songs on this EP like Just Another Star Or Hand of Blood. There is lack of singing and the after a while the chorus gets boring. This song doesn't really deserve to be on this EP. 3/5
Just Another Star: Now the last track of the EP, Just Another Star, is Mind blowing. This is the shortest song on the EP, and here for once you can actually hear the lead vocalist, even if it is just him screaming "JUMP" a million times. This song has influences from No Control (just to good ones though) and also from Avenged Sevenfold's album Waking The Fallen. It has an excellent chorus with marvellous guitar work as usual. Jay, can be heard much more on this track (vocally) than any other track on the EP. I'd say "Perfect way to end the extended play". 5/5
In conclusion, This band would go well in your collection if it already consists of bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Atreyu, Trivium. If you are trying to introduce yourself to this band, you should probably start with Hand Of Blood or Just Another Star.
This is my First review, so i don't really know how good or bad I wrote.
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