Bullet For My Valentine -Hand Of Blood

Fri 7th Apr, 2006 in Music Reviews

Bullet For My Valentine are hotly tipped to be the next big thing in the metal world, UK’s Kerrang Magazine has been talking them up like crazy and they have had the honour of gracing the main stage of some of the UK’s (and therefore the world’s) largest festivals.

BFMV have been together as a band for over 7 years though this is the first time Australia is to get a taste of their brutal brand of rock. Considering the length of time they’ve been together, they only just got around to releasing their debut album, The Poison, in October of last year to much critical acclaim.

Considering the sources that I was seeing promote the absolute bollocks out of this band here in Australia it was expected that these guys were to be yet another fish in the seemingly infinitely huge sea of tight-jean wearing, make-up dripping, tattooed sleeved, wrist slitting hardcore bands.

It turns out they look more like your typical Aussie metal band out of the ‘burbs. You know the ones, there’s the puffed-up chest pose, 2 with long hair, one donning a beanie and the other shorter, more solid little bloke with the spikey hair, and they all have that “don’t mess with me, im in a metal band” kinda look.

Thankfully they’re also a lot better than your average Aussie metal band. Speaking of metal, they don’t really come across so much metal as they do the new breed of melodic hardcore. They sound akin to the music of Atreyu crossed with the vocals of Lost Prophets (although a load less whiney).

The music is chunky, it’s intense, and it commands a decent set of subs to pump out the throbbing bass. It’s a fairly derivative sound they have going on but they work the sound into something of an artform, rather than merely creating a sub-par imitation of their predecessors.

One thing that seems to be inconsistent with their peers in the hardcore genre is the virtual non-existence of breakdowns, instead replacing them with a more conventional bridge. Who knows or cares why theres the lack of breakdowns, at the very least it doesn’t sound like they’ve chucked in a simple thumping bass drum simply because they have to.

One of the catchier numbers is Track 3, Cries In Vein, it’s the only song with a real hook and will have you pretending you weren’t singing in no time. Skip another 3 tracks to the last, Just Another Star, will have you banging your head to the shout-along chorus of “JUMP JUMP JUMP JUMP!”

There’s nothing really screaming “we’re gonna rip the hardcore scene a new arsehole,” and while the ideas may be “borrowed” they’re putting less emphasis on being just one of the same. Give it a spin if you can get your hands on a copy.