Review Summary: Most honest release since Fever, despite the less aggressive songwriting.
Polarizing as it may be,
Gravity is a competent experiment from the four Welshmen that comprise Bridgend’s Bullet for My Valentine. After they released the monumentally safe-playing but pitifully desperate
Venom as an attempt to save face after reputation-marring
Temper Temper, this certainly came out of left field.
Gravity departs entirely from the predecessor’s thrashy metalcore style, in favor of a more refined edition of their style prior to the
Hand of Blood EP combined with elements reminiscent of
That’s the Spirit by Bring Me the Horizon. There is no absence of misfires within its 41-minute runtime, as has been a common issue for the band since the debut. As a whole however, it’s nowhere near as dismal as the public reception seems to suggest.
The first thing that comes to mind is the complete absence of guitar solos. Perhaps this is a way of paying homage to Metallica’s
St. Anger, as that album was written with a similar goal in mind. Although there are some notable lead parts, such as in “Over It”, “Coma”, and “Gravity”, there’s not much more than that as far as Padge’s involvement is concerned. Most of his time is spent playing the same licks as Matt Tuck. While tracks like “Leap of Faith”, “Under Again”, and “Letting You Go” could have been enhanced with some more complex guitarwork, their simplistic nature isn’t a major detriment.
Gravity is centered around the lyrical content and Matt Tuck’s emotive delivery more than anything else, thus the riff-driven approach of previous works had to be sacrificed to achieve that. That has proven to be one of the most polarizing elements of this album, as the music has been marked as tepid and uninteresting by fans and critics alike.
Depressive lyrics are to be expected if you’ve followed this band for some time, as I have. However,
Gravity takes a more rational, less vengeful approach to the writing than previous efforts. Songs like “The Very Last Time”, “Letting You Go” and “Over It” evidence this, as Tuck forgoes his former suicidal tendencies and vengeance-seeking in favor of independence. However, despite the evident increase in maturity, not every line hits like it should. “You're the gravity that keeps pulling me down” is arguably one of the weirdest ways to compare depression to gravity, and thus is one notable misfire. Some lines in “Letting You Go” are easily made fun of, particularly in the chorus. As easy as it is to knock this as “whiny” when you’re ignorant of the situations that spawned it, the pain in Tuck’s voice feels more authentic than on every other album Bullet for My Valentine has released post-
Fever.
The two bonus tracks featured on the Target edition, “Breaking Out” and “Crawling”, have some of the more interesting musicianship on
Gravity, but as full songs, they’re a mixed bag. On one hand, “Breaking Out” seems to service as a protest anthem, yet its juvenile nature prevents it from being taken too seriously as a call to arms. On the other, “Crawling” is arguably the best track this band has penned in years, retaining the aggressive nature of the band while showcasing a genuine evolution in sound. Judging
Gravity from the same perspective you would
Venom may point to ignorance of their motivations during the writing process. In an interview, drummer Jason Bowld stated that “we tried doing the by-the-numbers metal, but it didn’t feel honest.” To be honest, I believe Bowld. Despite occasional misfires, this is nowhere near the tragedy it’s made out to be. Simply put, this is a cathartic alternative rock album with metal influence. If you expected
Venom 2.0, you’ll certainly hate it.
