The Badger Herald

ARTSETC.

Bullet for My Valentine ‘aims’ high, misses mark

Looking for a print version?
Simply choose ‘Print’ on your computer and a printer-friendly document will be generated.

Also by Steve Lampiris:

Death Angel certainly 'Kills' its music (February 26, 2008)
Band builds 'City' upon great beats (February 19, 2008)
Forest Art 'leaves' viewers thinking (February 19, 2008)
Rockers' latest album 'Feasts' on listeners' senses (February 7, 2008)
Band eulogizes Grateful Dead in concert (February 6, 2008)

by Steve Lampiris

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

If there has ever been a record that needed to be called a “transition album,” it is this one. Scream Aim Fire plays like that insecure freshman in college who is unsure if he wants to leave behind his high school self and fashion a new personality or try to incorporate his old self into the college life.

Essentially, this record tries to exist in both the metal world and the metalcore world. The former is clearly where Bullet wants to be and in some ways is headed. Trouble is, if Bullet completely dumps its metalcore roots, they risk losing the majority of their fan base, which was built upon the emo-metal sound of their debut record, The Poison. So what are the Welsh boys to do?

First, the bad news: Yes, Bullet still plays metalcore. Yes, it is still irritating. But the riffs are so damn good. “Say Goodnight,” for example, has a great riff approximately three minutes in. The problem is that the riff is buried beneath lyrics that reek of emo wrist-slashing sensibilities (“Heaven’s waiting for you/ Just close your eyes and say goodbye”) and a song structure that generally goes nowhere. Unfortunately, this sums up the majority of the album.

But Scream does show promise for future records. The title track is one of the few songs that shows progression and can actually be considered metal. Ironically enough, “Scream Aim Fire” is almost completely devoid of lead vocalist Matt Tuck’s scream. That is not to say that Tuck’s scream is not great — it is when paired with the clean vocals in the choruses, the combination became a formula they played to death on The Poison. His clean vocals here are great, if somewhat James Hetfield-esque. I guess Matt Tuck is following his de facto American brother-in-metalcore Matt Heafy, of Trivium. That said, the song has a killer riff and lyrics that did not have me shaking my head and sighing. There is hope after all.

However, hope seems to dwindle by track five, “Disappear.” By this point, the songs begin to sound too similar, resulting in a stale record less than halfway through. This is never a good sign. From there, the only notable change in song structure is in length. While most of the riffs and solos are memorable (a rare thing these days), the songs themselves are not.

Certainly, Matt and company play with conviction, which is always admirable. Nevertheless, this conviction is misplaced in a fashion-trend genre that should just die off. The band is much like that father on a family road trip who never admits he’s lost. We can only hope Bullet For My Valentine stops watching “Headbangers Ball” for inspiration. Now, can we talk about the name, guys?

2 1/2 stars out of 5

Feedback

Show all comments

Hide anonymous comments

Anonymous (January 30, 2008 @ 4:15pm):

Have to disagree. Like the record and realize that it is ADD in its approach, some of the songs could have come from 1985-1990 in the guitar work and lyrics, but for once, realize this isn't such a bad thing. I really like the closing track "Forever and Always" (sounds like something from Saigon Kick from 1992/1994 CD's) yet like you, love how well the first and second track just grab your attention and don't let go.

I am sure they will lose fans over it, but I'd drop the "emo" from your vocab due to the fact that every song, in commercial metal in 1980's would have been called "emo"..."You know I'm a dreamer, but my hearts of gold...", "In my dreams its still the same, your love is gone and still remains"...get it?

What did Weezer do to music? It's seems that with the emo talk that they were even more important to rock than Nirvana and that doesn't seem right. Drop the term "emo", it really has been overplayed.

Anyway, back to BFMV. They might be on to something, but whatever it is, they probable only have 5 years due to the music cycle, it will be 20 full years since grunge really hit all of us in the face and there will be comebacks and remakes and all of that. BFMV might have wanted to start their transition on the first record, if that even makes a damn bit of sense!

Good review none the less, at least you gave the band a chance...T

Add a comment

We welcome your thoughts, but please keep your feedback thoughtful, on-topic and respectful. Offensive language, personal attacks, or irrelevant comments may be deleted.