After selling out their last gig at Billboards, Bullet For My Valentine thought they’d have another shot at the title and tour Australia for the second time in 12 months. This time though they boasted a much larger crowd at Festival Hall and some heavier support than ever before. This had most definitely seen another sell-out event on the Saturday evening.

They were setting the score with first support act and regular performers in Melbourne, Behind Crimson Eyes. Throughout their set, the crowd began to fill Festival Hall as the following line-up was nothing short of a beauty. At least this time around the air conditioning was working much better than when I was here last for Rage. An early finish for BCE was then backed by Orange County favourites Atreyu.

They began by bringing it back to their metalcore roots with tracks such as Right Side Of The Bed and Bleeding Mascara, followed by their more recent pop hit Ex And Oh’s. They blew it up with Two Becomes One and Falling Down. Good times had just begun and the venue was pretty much packed to the rafters. Before too long, the good looks and charisma of frontman Alex Varkatzas had the girls ranting and raving. The ladies only became louder when he flicked his shirt off into the crowd and paced the stage to and fro with flex.

Backing vocalist Brandon Saller was flawless and did an amazing job of sustaining his voice whilst pumping out epic rhythm on his kit. The five-piece went into a deep array of ambient rock for Lose It. In representation of their recent release Lead Sails Paper Anchor, Becoming The Bull was certainly one of a few crowd-pleasers to close their set.

California’s Avenged Sevenfold certainly weren’t shy in putting on an energetic performance either. Another group who was fond of the Australian shores was also here for there second tour in 18 months. After many headlining gigs, sharing the stage with international acts and firmly setting their position on the current Taste Of Chaos tour, A7X felt the comfort in serving the Aussie crowd in support of yet another accredited group.

Vocalist Matthew – œM Shadows’ Charles was sure to do bang-up job as an entertainer and vocalist, and I couldn’t imagine it would be easy lugging 6’2” of solid muscle around the stage. He was nothing but cock and balls, sporting his aviator shades and his sleek bandana. I’m a big fan of their goth rock style, but I’m not as much of a fan of their music after their last two LPs were released. They just don’t seem to have the punch they did in the days of Waking The Fallen and Sounding The Seventh Trumpet. The lads only squeezed a couple of the older hits in from these albums as majority consisted from their self titled album and City Of Evil.

A Little Piece Of Heaven and Bat Country had the hearts thumping and the fists pumping. They were followed by Lost and then closed with Almost Easy. Considering my wing man and I were located directly facing the stage overlooking the crowd from the balcony, the sound was a slightly distorted, in contrast to that of Atreyu. A short and sweet instrument change kept the night rolling and the crowd on their toes, as we were about to be blown away by BFMV. It was surprisingly an early night and I reckon we were looking good to get the main act underway around 9:30pm.

Once the fans had settled, it wasn’t for too long, as the band crew lowered a 20’ white sheet from the ceiling to cover the vision of the stage. The roar was deafening and the hairs on my arms had risen. Three enormous silhouettes were illuminated and appeared from darkness as Jason James, Michael Paget and Matt Tuck battled away at their axes. The sheet dropped and they ripped straight into their – œ08 album title track Scream, Aim, Fire. The mixture of their set was one track to another from each of their LPs. Hearts Burst Into Fire had brought out the waving lighters from the fans and kicked into a frenzy of body movement.

4 Words To Choke Upon and Waking The Demon woke everyone up a little and the floor moved even more. There wasn’t all that much crowd-surfing but certainly plenty of moshing. Eye Of The Storm was also another ripper, encouraging the clapping of everyone’s hands midway through the track. The stage movement from Tuck was ample and they seemed as though they were enjoying themselves. Some brief words were spoken and just after an hour of solid heaviness, they ended their set with my favourite, Room 409. The lighting was superb and the sound had improved, making for a lasting impression.