Review By Steve O
Bullet For My Valentine doesn’t really need any introduction, these guys have come, they have conquered and they have staid. They have been around for more than 15 years and now they are at their 4th studio album which comes a few years after the release of the predecessor “Fever”. To join the everlasting debate on the musical genre they play, I would say this last album definitely goes into a very melodic, rock-metalcore direction.
When I say “very melodic” I also mean “soft” without implying the two are absolute synonyms, this being only the case of this band and album in question. This is a very radio-friendly collection of hard rock tunes with metalcore elements, but still very far from traditional metal.
It is not something that brings lots of new and different things from the previous release, it’s pretty much the same Bullet For My Valentine but with a tamer attitude, which can still get a lot of appreciation from fans I’m sure, but most likely won’t make any new ones.
First of all, it’s a decent length album on the deluxe edition, which includes a few bonuses, a cover song and a live recording of an older track. The album starts off a bit mellow; in other words, hold on, there’s more stuff like that! It continues with nice melodic lines, quite simplistic vocals and almost at all times the songs pick up only during the chorus and bridge parts. The choruses represent the highlight on every song, but the catchy element is not always there, and then when the tempos slow down, I feel they are losing consistency altogether.
Although the overall pace is relatively moderate, metalcore twists here and there spice things up and give it all some much needed vitality. Much needed – because not once did I think the album got stale, without any hint at brilliant moments, which BFMV used to have on previous albums. Generally speaking I think they are losing aggressiveness here with simpler song-writing, bland clean vocals and the slower pace than usual. Even if a song starts out really loud with a heavy riff, things are quickly tempered by the monotonous vocal lines of Matt Tuck.
The title track might be the only song that stands out on the album, together with a couple more tracks that bring a darker tone in the mix. Songs to remember: Dead to the World, Temper Temper, Whole Lotta Rosie (cover) A bit surprising to hear a live cover version of AC/DC’s song “Whole Lotta Rosie” here, the guys unleash their rock’n’roll monsters and it actually doesn’t sound bad. If BFMV music ever becomes unpopular, I think they could have a pretty solid career playing rock’n’roll songs, good times guaranteed!
