Tag Archives: BFMV

Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

The Record Vault – Bullet For My Valentine – Venom Edition

I didn’t know I had the CD until I opened up a box and there it was. Still in its wrapping along with a lot of other CD’s in their wrapping. I had a phase when I started streaming, where I just purchased a lot of CD’s online and just put them away in a box as I was streaming the album on Spotify. Based on what was in this box, there will need to be a “Record Vault” revision of some of the other artists as well.

Anyway, this post is about “Venom” released in 2015.

But I need to go back to the “Fever” album released in 2010, because that album started the hard rock and heavy metal phase of BFMV and it’s my favourite album. They followed “Fever” with “Temper, Temper” released in 2013, which went further in a hard rock direction. Like they had a live cover of “Whole Lotta Rosie” from AC/DC as a bonus track. But then again, they also had a Robert Tepper cover, “No Easy Way Out” on the thrash metal “Scream, Aim, Fire” album released in 2008.

But in 2015, they combined elements of all their releases into a very good album called “Venom”.

It was in my top 10 for 2015.

It had the speed metal, from the first two albums, it had the heavy metal and hard rock from the two albums just before “Venom”, plus it had a touch of growth with some modern influences and the digital delay U2 influence heard in the title track “Venom”.

I’ve said it before, BFMV is a melodic rock and hard rock band with thrash and metal influences, however fans of hard rock and melodic rock have not given this band a chance because of the screaming aspect or the classification with a different style because of record label marketing. Like metalcore.

And for a band with metal, hard rock and thrash roots who came out 2005, BFMV have massive numbers when it comes to streaming and YouTube views.

Massive.

And they tour relentlessly. I’ve seen em live and the band delivers.

“No Way Out” is relentless. A thrash-a-thon.

Looking out standing over the edge
Too numb to feel alive

Even though this song was written in 2015, the words are still relevant.

Will life return to normal once COVID-19 is all over?

Will people still gather in larger groups?

A scientist on TV said, there might not be a cure or a vaccine for COVID-19, but a treatment, like how they do with HIV. Its numbing.

Tell me why I feel like there’s no way out

The Chorus deals with the mental struggles of thinking there is no way out and we hate waiting for time to pass and we hate following rules but sometimes following rules is what we need to do.

This negativity
Is dominating and smothering me
I just can’t breathe

I can’t help but over analyse events, thinking that some of the people I deal with have other motives, saying one thing to my face and saying something else behind my back.

The negativity is not productive and its torturous. This was heaps prominent when I was younger and as I got older, my care factor for these kinds of analysis went to ZERO. Other things are more important than putting thoughts in my head which don’t exist.

The guitar solo while brief is quality. And it ends with the same thrash-a-thon that it began with.

“You Want A Battle? (Here’s A War)” from Bullet For My Valentine (BFMV) starts off with a call to arms which is familiar to people who grew up in the 80’s.

“We will not take this anymore, These words will never be ignored, You want a battle? Here’s a war”

And the band blasts in with some pretty cool riffage.

The message based on the first three lines, is the same between Twisted Sister’s war cry of “we’re not gonna take it”, to Bullet For My Valentine’s “we will not take this anymore”.

But the subject matter is a bit different if you look at the film clips.

While in the 80’s, the enemy for Dee Snider and Co. was the disciplinary parent while the BFMV music video the enemy is the abusive parent and the violence in the family, until the victims get their revenge. And the Genus lyrical annotations state the song is about bullying.

Don’t suffer in your silence
Know you are never alone

Vocalist and guitarist, Matt Tuck, said that he suffered a lot of bullying at school because he was the heavy metal kid with long hair that didn’t fit in and how it took him a lot of time to finally stand up for himself. I find it strange that this kind of

From about the 2.50 minute mark there is this bridge like section which I like and then when the outro chorus kicks in with an open string melodic lick under it, its head banging stuff.

“Army Of Noise” could have come from an 80’s album.

Lights out, fist raised
Adrenaline rushing infecting our veins
Now feel the heat as the temperature spikes
Bodies are thrashing the fire ignites

Metallica’s “Kill Em All” album has this vibe with “Seek And Destroy”, “Metal Militia”, “Whiplash” and basically every other song except “The Four Horsemen” and “Jump In The Fire”. The first two songs on the “Ram It Down” album from Judas Priest have this vibe.

So here we are
Weapons in arms
Army of noise has come to destroy
We will not fall

How things change. Hard Rock music went from “noise” to “acceptable” to “mainstream”. And it got heavier and it was till acceptable.

What is classified as noise these days?

“Worthless” is a typical “FU”.

You can keep all your apologies
Those words are worthless to me
And I don’t wanna hear that you’re sorry
Your words mean nothing to me

Take that.

And all the songs are underpinned by great riffage, excellent shredding and drumming.

There was an additional 3D style cover but the photo below doesn’t do the V and the snake justice.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

Army Of Noise

“Army Of Noise” has got that feel of “Metal Militia” and overall the song has a “Kill Em All” vibe in the lyrics.

The intro riff morphs into the verse riff and it’s a combination of Metallica and Slayer, from their “Ride The Lightning” and “South Of Heaven” albums. It’s fast and aggressive and Matt Tuck spits out the words.

Anticipation we’re on the attack, just keep pushing forward, there’s no turning back

I lived this during the 80’s, but there is a whole new generation who needs these words and are living it right now.

Lights out, fist raised, adrenaline rushing infecting our veins

Going to the show was about the adrenaline. Now it’s about the best seat, which you pay premium for, and the selfie and the filmed footage to show the world that you went.

I’m guilty of it as well.

Now feel the heat as the temperature spikes, bodies are thrashing, the fire ignites

I’ve never been in a circle pit but goddamn they are wicked to watch.

At one of the Machine Head Sydney concerts, I saw this guy on crutches make his way into the circle pit and he just vanished like a person in a twister, only to be lifted up in the air and held up high by the circle pitters. Unbelievable, that in all of that chaos, there was a sense to protect.

Before the Chorus comes in, there is this foot stomping riff that just gets me ready to break stuff.

Once the Chorus kicks in, its arena rock all the way.

So here we are
Weapons in arms
Army of noise has come to destroy
We will not fall
Brothers in arms
We will deploy our army
An army of noise

The message and the ethos is the same as the 80s. In those times we had “Stand Up And Shout”, “I Wanna Rock”, “Cum On Feel The Noize” and “We Rock”. Judas Priest took it to another level with “Ram It Down” and “Heavy Metal”.

One thing that I’ve always liked about BFMV is the drumming from Michael “Moose” Thomas. The way he builds intro’s and riffs with metronome precision, his double kick work and tom rolls is excellent.

But he is no longer in the band, fired during the “Venom” tour. Well, he left the tour to go home, so he could be there for the birth of his child and after a few months, he contacted the band and said he was ready to return, but they didn’t offer him a return date.

And the lead break is Triple A rated. Michael Paget is an unknown in the larger field of guitarist these days, but he is a bonafide guitar hero in my book.

So feel the sound as it pounds in your chest
Eardrums exploding bodies possessed

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Influenced, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

No Way Out

Bullet For My Valentine (BFMV) started off as a normal metal band to me, but people and marketing teams need genre tags, so they got labeled with “Metalcore” or “EMO” act for “The Poison” released in 2007.

Sticking with genre labels, they went all “Thrash Metal” on their best album “Scream Aim Fire” in 2008 with the very Slayer sounding, “Waking The Demon” track and surprise, surprise, the very Journey sounding, “Hearts Burst Into Fire” and a great cover of Robert Tepper’s “No Easy Way Out” from the Rocky IV soundtrack.

For 2010’s “Fever” they adopted a more hard rock/metal approach, which they re-defined and commercialised a little bit more for “Temper Temper” in 2013.

Then in 2015, they combined elements of all their releases into a very good album called “Venom”. I have written about this album previously in one of my year in reviews series. They also released another album in 2018 called “Gravity”.

The thing is, acts like BFMV have melodic rock and hard rock influences, however fans of those styles never really give these bands a chance because they are labeled with a different style due to record label marketing.

To me, BFMV is a hard rock band at heart, with thrash and metal influences. And while their earlier stuff had some screaming, the majority of their new stuff is with clean vocals and massive rock choruses. On some occasions you get all three, the screaming, the clean and the melody. Like the track “No Way Out” from the “Venom” album.

And BFMV are also an important band when it comes to streaming who has metal, hard rock and thrash roots. Their numbers on Spotify and YouTube are massive.

“No Way Out” is relentless. A thrash-a-thon.

Looking out standing over the edge
Too numb to feel alive

Even though this song was written in 2015, the words are still relevant.

Every time I go to The Guardian to catch up on news, I am greeted with death. If the death toll goes down in one country, it increases in another.

Its numbing.

And our brains are designed to survive, so we read the news, we watch the news and process the threats. We are fragile creatures, only here for a short time. And our thoughts can make us do things that makes our time being alive even shorter.

Will life return to normal once COVID-19 is all over?

Will people still gather in larger groups?

A scientist on TV said, there might not be a cure or a vaccine for COVID-19, but a treatment, like how they do with HIV.

Its numbing.

Tell me why I feel like there’s no way out

The Chorus deals with the mental struggles of thinking there is no way out and today, we are looking for the peak of infections to fall or to flatten the curve.

And being patient is not part of our DNA.

We hate waiting for time to pass and we hate following rules but waiting it out by following rules is what we need to do.

This negativity
Is dominating and smothering me
I just can’t breathe

I can’t help but over analyse events, thinking that some of the people I deal with have ulterior motives, saying one thing to my face and saying something else behind my back.

The negativity is not productive and its torturous. This was heaps prominent when I was younger and as I got older, my care factor for these kinds of analysis went to ZERO. Other things are more important than putting thoughts in my head which don’t exist.

The guitar solo while brief is quality.

And it ends with the same thrash-a-thon riff that it began with.

And while the song ends with a sense of hopelessness, there is hope in life and there is a way out. This too shall pass.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Music, My Stories

Bullet For My Valentine

I have been cranking Bullet For My Valentine lately. I started off with the new “Temper Temper” album released this year. “The Poison” album was next. I then went back to the “Hand of Blood” EP. Then “Scream Aim Fire” and “Fever”. On top of all that I have also seen the band perform live.

The music that BFMV creates is very reminiscent to the hard rock / heavy metal music created between 1981 and 1986, before Bon Jovi released Slippery When Wet and then the majority of bands started chasing the pop metal / pop rock “pot of gold”. It is the same music that I grew up on.

Metallica – CHECK
Iron Maiden – CHECK
AC/DC – CHECK
Slayer – CHECK
Megadeth – CHECK
Judas Priest – CHECK

Modern influences like Machine Head, Pantera and Metallica “Black” album period are also found in the songs. That is why I probably connected with the band.

As I have mentioned previously, all artists are a sum of their influences. No one creates art in a vacuum, waiting for that spark of super originality to come. Sometimes, a band takes all of these influences and creates something original, however in most cases, bands fall into an evolutionary category.

Bullet For My Valentine as a band have an unbelievable chemistry. The drumming is sensational. Just listen to how the drums build the intro in “Waking The Demon”. The guitar leads are very Randy Rhoads like, the riffs are melodic and the bass playing is solid.

“The Last Fight” is a classic example of the band nailing it. Listen to the rock version and then listen to the acoustic version, with the piano and violin. Dealing with addictions is difficult and this song captures it. The lead break in the rock version is classical heaven to start off with and then harmonised in the vein of Iron Maiden.

“Breaking Point” from the new album is a dead set classic opener. I don’t know why they went with “Riot” and “Temper, Temper” as the lead off tracks to promote the album. It should have been “Breaking Point” all the way.

Who can forget the punch and groove of “Your Betrayal”? Another perfect song to get the body moving into high gear.

Then you have the speed metal style of Slayer and Machine Head in “Scream, Aim, Fire” and “Waking The Demon”?

The Iron Maiden influence is heard in “Alone” while the Judas Priest influence is heard in “Eye Of The Storm”.

Add to that the slower songs like “Hearts Burst Into Fire” and you have a band that is varied and influenced by a lot of great styles.

This band still hasn’t written their “Blackening” or “Dr Feelgood” or “Back In Black” or “Black” album. They are working towards it. Great albums come from experience. Great songs come from having lived. The band (provided that they stay together) is on its way to achieving this.

They have hooked in Terry Date for the upcoming album, so it is a step in the right direction for album number 5. Matt Tuck even mentioned that the music is no holds barred metal, unlike the previous two releases.

I didn’t think I liked BFMV to start off with. Then I heard their cover of “Sanitarium” from a Kerrang tribute album to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of “Master of Puppets” from Metallica. That tribute album was also my first introduction to Trivium and their unbelievable cover of “Master Of Puppets”.

The modern paradigm of success is to create great music and reap the benefits later. “The Poison” came out in 2005 and by 2009, it had a GOLD certification in the U.S. market.

So I purchased “Scream, Aim, Fire” when it came out without hearing a song and I suddenly realised that I liked the band.

Just like Pantera had to emerge from the shadows of the inferior hard rock / power metal scene in the late Eighties, Bullet For My Valentine had to do the same. The metalcore movement has committed the same sin as hard rock and glam rock committed. Too many derivative bands are doing the rounds and there is no substance. With the release of “Scream, Aim, Fire”, BFMV showed that they are a metal band in the true sense. With “Fever” and “Temper, Temper”, they have showed that they can rock with the best of them.

The Bullet For My Valentine VEVO account shows that “Tears Don’t Fall” has been viewed 55,738,093 times.

“Your Betrayal” has been viewed 17,391,181 times.

“Waking The Demon” has been viewed 23,947,044 times.

“Hearts Burst Into Fire” has been viewed 13,500,316 times.

“The Last Fight” has been viewed 3,232,789 times.

“Temper Temper” has been viewed 2,254,641 times.

“Breaking Point” has just been released and it has been viewed 686,885 times.

“Hand Of Blood” has been viewed 12,069,227 times.

The above figures are from the official BFMV account. Those same songs have been circulated on other user accounts with high view counts as well.

Spotify has the following top 10 songs for BFMV. For some insane reason, the “Scream Aim Fire” album is not on Spotify.

“Tears Don’t Fall” is at 18,297,766 streams.

“All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)” is at 9,878,085 streams.

“Your Betrayal” is at 8,335,370 streams.

“The Last Fight” is at 5,337,727 streams.

“Fever” is at 3,696,842 streams.

“Bittersweet Memories” is at 2,673,920 streams.

“Temper, Temper” is at 1,187,795 streams.

“Tears Don’t Fall (Part 2)” is at 1,030,904 streams.

“Breaking Point” is at 884,423 streams.

“P.O.W.” is at 670,708 streams.

I am sure that if the songs from “Scream Aim Fire” could be streamed, the above list would be a touch different.

So what is this saying about the band.

They have a reach that a lot of other bands do not have in metal. Kirk Hammett said that there isn’t any new bands coming out on the scene because of the internet and social media. Tell that to BFMV and their fans. Michael Poulsen said that bands can’t live off record sales alone. He is right, they can’t, however a band can live off record sales, iTunes downloads, streaming fees, YouTube views, licensing, merchandise and live revenue. You just got to be prepared to put in the hard work.

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Bullet For My Valentine – The Hi Fi – Sydney 27 February 2013

Basically if any member leaves Bullet For My Valentine I will no longer be interested.

Stories abound that the band had issues with each other during the tour of the Fever album and that they where close to breaking up.  Lets hope that they realise that they are a sum of their parts.  Does anyone remember Axewound?

The guitarist Michael Paget is a shredder in the classic Randy Rhoads sense, he was spot on all night, and a pleasure to watch.  The drummer Michael Thomas was a machine.  The whole night he was nailing his parts effortlessly.  Singer / Guitarist Matt Tuck was also in the pocket with his vocals and riffage.  

But the star of the show was the bass player Jason James.  He was the crowd instructor.  He got everyone jumping, he got the mosh pit going crazy, he got all the fists in the air going, plus he killed it in delivering high quality backing vocals and taking the lead on the screamo parts. 

If there was an issue with the show it was the small venue vs the high volumes clash and no Your Betrayel.  Ohh the betrayel…

Their latest album Temper Temper has moved 56,900 units in two weeks in the US and a quick look at The Pirate Bay shows at least 1500 seeders for this album with about 100 leechers.

This is the new world.  When the labels used to control the distribution, albums used to do a two year run via scheduled release windows.  These days with the internet, the album run is over within two to four weeks.

I still don’t know why bands spend three months or more in a studio recording a full album for it to disappear within a month.

Don’t get me wrong, good albums will stay the course like American Capitalist from Five Finger Death Punch has sold 500,000 plus units in the US and it was released in 2011.

Danish band Volbeat’s Beyond Hell/Above Heaven has just cracked the 200,00 mark in US sales, three years after it was released.  This one has been a slow riser, without all the mainstream marketing.  The fans have been spreading the word.  The fans are in control now.  The labels hate it, but if the bands are switched on, they can monetise this to the max.  Anyway i digress.  Back to the live show.

1000 plus people crammed into THE HI FI venue at Sydney’s Moore Park.  They where treated to a good show.  For $63 a ticket it was worth it.  I have no interest in Miss May I and The Cancer Bats.  They opened with Breaking Point and all i can say is they had the audience singing the song with them.  That is one thing that caught my attention, especially on the new album, the songs written are designed so that they work with the show.  All the songs worked and the energy levels where always up.  Highlights for me where Breaking Point, Pleasure and Pain, The Last Fight with it’s ballad like intro,  Scream Aim Fire, Waking the Demon and Alone.  This was a gig for the hardcore fans and BFMV didn’t disappoint.

 

 

 

 

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