Bullet For My Valentine

Mon 6th Sep, 2010 in Features

In recent years, Bullet for my Valentine has been propelled to the forefront of the U.K metal scene. Having shared the stage with Iron Maiden and Metallica, the band is once again returning to Australia to unleash their pent-up fury; laden with heartfelt lyrics. Considering this reputation, it comes as a surprise to find drummer Michael ‘Moose’ Thomas to be quiet and reserved amidst an almost indecipherable Welsh accent.

“We are in Milwaukee. It’s been really good; the response from the new material has been awesome. We always try and do one better with every album we release. We worked super hard on this record and I think we’ve done it.”

After fourteen months from writing to the release, Fever features the band’s signature brutality amidst a melodic backdrop, “It’s more relaxed, more powerful, and a lot more vocal driven like Poison was. We just locked ourselves away for a few months like we did on earlier albums and just had fun really, wrote songs that we were happy with.”

Australian fans have welcomed Fever, peaking at number five on the ARIA charts. “It’s really exciting, obviously when we came down there with Avenged Sevenfold… but now were coming back to the venues on our own its more of a surprise to us.” Having travelled here numerous times in the past, this trip will be marked by memories of their last tour alongside Avenged Sevenfold, following the passing of fellow drummer The Rev. Moose acknowledges how their past tour now holds a greater significance to them. “It was a sad day when he passed away, but we are still in contact with [the rest of the band] and I think one day we are going to tour again together so fingers crossed.”

Beginning in 1998, Bullet for my Valentine has now released three studio albums. Having gradually climbed up the ladder of success, the band is achieving their ultimate objectives as a band. “We’re running out of goals now so it’s kinda hard but when we first started one of our goals was to tour with Metallica, and Iron Maiden; done that. Then we sold over two million records…then [the aim was to] move to arenas, now we are dong that in the winter. It’s cool it keeps us on our feet.”

There is now an added pressure to build the hype and create an album experience. “We feel like we release an album and everything around it just became part of that album. People on iTunes downloading songs kind of annoys me. We write an album to be an album, not just songs.” However, BFMV latched onto the technological revolution, embracing Twitter as a means of giving away a taste of the new album and subsequently build anticipation.

Moose states the definitive moment of success for his band will not be world domination, but simply to “just have longevity and hopefully respect… I think it comes down to the quality of the songs that we write; we don’t want to write bad songs. If there’s one song that one member of the band is not happy with then it won’t get finished or it wont get released. I think quality of the song speak.”

Their underlying friendship with one another has allowed a collective approach to recording. “The inspiration was when we started writing just to keep it simple, and keep it easy …not to struggle with fast songs and everything should be laid back and powerful really. There are songs about drug addiction, struggling; a deep darker level like the other album.”

As for their impending trip, “It’s one of our favourite countries to tour. We love the people there; we love the atmosphere, the weather, the wine, the beer. It’s one of the most beautiful places on the planet…Thanks for making our record such a success in your country and we’ll hope to see you on tour.”

Bullet for my Valentine dates:
Tuesday 7th September – Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
Thursday 9th September – Festival Hall, Melbourne
Friday 10th September – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Saturday 11th September – The Riverstage, Brisbane

Check out the photos from the Perth show