Mind Noise Network
Bullet For My Valentine -
Venom
by James Salt - 12 August 2015
Before I kick this review off, let me just get one thing straight...by Jove Bullet For My Valentine are back!
After the catastrophe that was Temper Temper, Matt Tuck & Co. had to go away and produce something quite special. And that's what they've gone and done, with a slight change in the rankings along the way following the departure of bassist Jay James and the arrival of newbie Jamie Mathias.
Venom has the sound of a newly reinvigorated band, they've managed to reignite the fire that burned out 10 years ago when they released The Poison. It's great to see.
After a short intro its full steam ahead into the first single No Way Out, one of the heaviest tracks the band have produced since their debut. The screams are hoarse, the riffs are chunky and the solo is fierce. It's a sign of things to come.
Afterwards is some slightly new territory for BFMV, as they churn out a rather thrashtastic Army of Noise, similar in ways to The Last Fight from the Fever album. It's fast, brutal and brilliant.
Worthless slows the tempo down a bit, but still retains that trademark Bullet catchiness.
New single You Want A Battle (Here's A War) follows suit, another slower number but with a dark subject matter. This is obviously a song written following a personal experience, and the emotion pouring out of the lyrics is hard-felt but this also helps to make it one of the standout tracks of the record.
Broken is pretty much a by-the-numbers Bullet song that wouldn't feel out of place on Fever or Scream, Aim, Fire.
The title track follows which is the only time the album enters ballad territory, with its catchy chorus this is definitely going to be sung back to the band in academies nationwide with lighters held high in the air.
The double-header of The Harder The Heart (The Harder It Breaks) and Skin shows off the more melodic side of the band with their anthemic choruses and Matt Tuck showing off his more refined clean vocals.
Bringing the album to a close is one of the darker tracks on the record Pariah, one of the best songs on the album which barely lets up on the heaviness. A perfect conclusion to a solid record.
It's great to see Bullet For My Valentine back to what they do best, playing high-octane, energetic heavy metal. With some new blood in the band they seem to have found that spark that made the metal community fall in love with them all those years ago.
Venom is definitely the remedy that fans have been striving for since the release of Temper Temper, and here's hoping we see BFMV headlining arena shows and topping festival bills once again, the hard work has payed off with this one.
â—„
1/20
â–º