CD Review
Bullet For My Valentine
Venom
2015
RCA Records
Review: Robert Winans
✰✰✰✰
British metalcore outfit Bullet For My Valentine have come out with their newest disc cleverly called Venom with a large Roman numeral V marking the fifth studio album. Having said by the band that they were returning to their roots stylistically, drawing on their first disc The Poison, arguably their heaviest showing, they seem to be boldly promising to deliver.
Having the former album Temper Temper let’s say not exactly living up to fan expectations for one reason or another, this album will determine whether the band can pick itself up and put out a blistering record.
However, Bullet fans need not worry with Venom. After a haunting opener that sounds more like a Slipknot intro, Matt Tuck opens with a classic scream of “No Way Out” with a driving drum line that keeps up the adrenaline going into arguably the rebel anthem of the album “You Want a Battle?(Here’s A War)”. The album is a mix of radio rock to Metal and everything in between, taking a break to deliver a song that could be on par with “Tears Don’t Fall” in the title track “Venom”. I found it rather surprising that they actually didn’t lead with this as their first single it may be because this is mostly a hard hitting aggressive step up from their previous two albums.
Not to take away from how well written the song “Venom” is for its musical stylings, the rest of the album just refuses to take a break from outright proving that Bullet can still play metalcore as well as they ever have. There will be quite a few singles off of this album without question. What is even better aside from what is being promoted, songs like “Pariah” and “Come Hell Or High Water” and “Playing God” all hold their own. While Bullet For My Valentine may have not been well received for their prior album, Venom marks their triumphant return to being one of the top metal bands out there today. Their Deluxe Edition of Venom is out now featuring 15 tracks, not one worth skipping.
