Bullet For My Valentine

 

Bullet for My Valentine are a Welsh heavy metal band from Bridgend, formed in 1998. The band is composed of Matthew Tuck (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Michael Paget (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jason James (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Michael Thomas (drums). They were formed under the name Jeff Killed John and started their music career by covering songs by Metallica and Nirvana. Jeff Killed John recorded six songs which were not released; two of these tracks were reworked later in their career as Bullet for My Valentine. Financial difficulties dictated the name change, which was followed by a change in music direction. In 2002, the band secured a five-album deal with Sony BMG. The band has stated that their music is influenced by classic heavy metal acts such as Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Slayer. The band is part of the Cardiff music scene.

Bullet for My Valentine's debut album, The Poison, was released on 3 October 2005 in the United Kingdom and on 14 February 2006 in the United States to coincide with Valentine's Day hence their band name. The album entered the Billboard 200 in the US at number 128. It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The band made appearances at the Download Festival and Kerrang! XXV, and undertook a US tour with Rob Zombie. Bullet for My Valentine's second studio album, Scream Aim Fire, was released on 29 January 2008 and debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. The band's third album, Fever, was released on 26 April 2010 and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200. The band has sold over one million albums in the United States and nearly 2,500,000 albums worldwide and are the most-successful act in the Kerrang! Awards category of "Best British Band" with three wins.

HISTORY

Jeff Killed John and record deal (1998—2005)

Jeff Killed John was the forerunner band to Bullet for My Valentine and was formed in 1998 by Matthew Tuck, Michael "Padge" Paget, Nick Crandle, and Michael "Moose" Thomas while studying music at Bridgend College. Playing Nirvana and Metallica cover songs, the band released a two-track EP in 2002, You/Play with Me, which was produced by Greg Haver. The EP was financed through the Pynci scheme for new Welsh musicians and the release garnered radio airplay on BBC Radio 1's broadcast at Newport's T.J.'s. Jeff Killed John's music followed the nu metal trend set by bands such as Korn and Limp Bizkit. Bassist Crandle left the band on the eve of entering the recording sessions for You/Play with Me and was replaced by Jason James. The band then changed their name to Bullet for My Valentine and reworked their musical strategy; they decided to play thrash metal songs with "harmony guitars and big angelic choruses" according to frontman Tuck.

Roadrunner Records showed interest in Bullet for My Valentine and offered the band a deal. The offer was ultimately turned down, and the band signed a five-album record deal with Sony BMG and a UK licensing deal with Visible Noise. According to Tuck, they chose Sony because, "We thought that a lot more doors would be open to us." A self-titled EP was released on 15 November 2004 in the UK. Produced by Colin Richardson, it featured five tracks and marked the band's first official release. A second EP, Hand of Blood, was released on 22 August 2005 through Trustkill Records and was only available in the US; the release contained one extra track than the self-titled EP, "4 Words (To Choke Upon)." Daniel Lukes of Decibel Magazine reviewed the EP by stating, "The worst part is that the music itself isn’t all that bad, for the genre." He went on to comment that the band should be "embarrassed" about the release. Zeromag's Josh Joyce complimented the band on "how technical they can get without confusing the kids."

The Poison (2005—2007)

Bullet for My Valentine at 2007's Earthday Birthday (depicted from left to right: Paget, James, and Tuck).

Bullet for My Valentine's debut album, The Poison, was released on 3 October 2005 in the UK and on Valentine's Day, 2006 in the US. It entered the Billboard 200 at number 128, and attained number 11 on the Independent Albums chart. On 30 January 2009, the album was certified gold by the RIAA after 500,000 copies were sold in the US. Four singles were released from The Poison: "4 Words (To Choke Upon)", "Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)", "All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)", and "Tears Don't Fall". Bullet for My Valentine promoted the album by touring across the world. In 2005, with increased popularity, they played on the larger Download Festival Snickers stage; in 2006, the band were moved to near the top of the main stage bill. Other tours included opening for Metallica and Guns N' Roses in the summer of 2006, the Vans Warped Tour and Earthday Birthday. The band's headline performance at Kerrang XXV, a one-off gig at Brixton Academy in London on 28 January 2006, was filmed for their first DVD, The Poison: Live at Brixton. During June 2007, Tuck suffered from laryngitis, which let to an emergency tonsillectomy in July. Bullet for My Valentine were forced to cancel several shows, including supporting Metallica for three dates on their Sick of the Studio '07 tour on 29 June in Bilbao, 5 July in Vienna, and 8 July at the recently completed Wembley Stadium in London. Unable to speak, Tuck wrote that as soon as doctors cleared him he would be in the studio working on the band's next album.

Scream Aim Fire (2007—2008)

Bullet for My Valentine's second studio album, Scream Aim Fire, was recorded at Sonic Ranch Studios and was produced by Colin Richardson. Tuck commented at the time, "It's a lot more up tempo, a lot more aggressive". The album was released in the US on 29 January 2008. It sold 53,000 copies in its first week and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200. Three songs were released as singles: "Scream Aim Fire", "Hearts Burst into Fire", and "Waking the Demon".

In support of the new album, the band toured North America and Australia in the spring of 2008 for the Taste of Chaos tour alongside Atreyu, Blessthefall, and Avenged Sevenfold. Bullet for My Valentine cut short the Canada portion of the tour and flew back home to support the daughter of James who was in hospital. The band performed in North America again in the summer of 2008 as part of the No Fear Tour with Bleeding Through, Cancer Bats, and Black Tide. In late 2008, the band toured Europe, supported by Lacuna Coil, Bleeding Through, and Black Tide. In December 2008, Scream Aim Fire was re-released with four bonus tracks that were recorded during the album's studio sessions, but with re-recorded vocal-lines.

Fever (2009—2011)

Matt Tuck spoke to Daniel Marez of Metal Hammer in March 2009 about the band's progress on writing and recording their third album. Tuck stated that there were four or five songs that were finished and that "usually we write and record 14 tracks that I then have to write vocal lines for, but this time I’m trying to write the vocals as I write the music". Bullet for My Valentine confirmed in August 2009 that they were aiming for an early 2010 release for the new album, while Tuck stated that the upcoming record is "a lot more mature-sounding, it's a lot more classic. It'll stand the test of time [more] than both the previous things we've done". In a January 2010 interview with Rock Sound, Tuck stated explained details for the album; it would be titled Fever and that the 11-track record would have a sound closer to The Poison rather than Scream Aim Fire and would be absent of ballads.

During the summer of 2009, Bullet for My Valentine toured across the United States as part of the Mayhem Festival, alongside Killswitch Engage, Slayer, and Marilyn Manson on the main stage; they also appeared on the UK leg of the Sonisphere tour at Knebworth, headlining the second stage. The band will be headlining the second stage at the Download Festival 2010 on the Friday night. The band has also been confirmed for Nova Rock, Metaltown, Rock am Ring, Rock on the Range, The

Bamboozle, Bilbao Live Festival, Fortarock and Graspop. In addition, they will be playing alongside the Big Four on the Greek leg of Sonisphere. Fever was released on 27 April 2010.[41] A free download of a new track called "Begging For Mercy" was released on the band's website on 14 February 2010 as part of a Twitter promotion. The song "Your Betrayal" was chosen as the lead single for the album and was set to release on 9 March 2010, but, unexpectedly, was released earlier on 2 March 2010 as a digital single on iTunes Store. The second single is called "The Last Fight" and was released on 19 April. The album artwork for this studio album was released on the official website on 5 March 2010. Bullet for My Valentine announced the start their US tour in support of Fever. It began on 30 April with the bands Airbourne and Chiodos as support. On 12 March the band released the music videos for "The Last Fight" and "Your Betrayal". The band revealed the track listing on their website on 15 March, as well as other various sources that include an email to all of their subscribers on the mailing list. On 26 April the band played a secret show in London to celebrate the release of Fever. This was their only UK headline show until the end of the year.

Fourth studio album (2011—present)

On 28 January 2011, Michael Paget stated that the group had already drawn proportions for the next studio album and will sound a lot like Fever. He followed-along with stating that the band plans to have the songs for it written within 2011 and will begin recording the album by the end of the year. A couple tracks left from the Fever sessions might be redone, re-arranged and re-recorded for the new record. The band played at Uproar Festival 2011, after which they began writing material for a fourth studio album. The band hopes to release the album sometime in 2012.

On 7 October, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding Jive Records along with Arista Records and J Records. With the shutdown, the band (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release their future material (including their next studio album) on the RCA Records brand. Also in October, frontman Matt Tuck announced that he will be working on a new side project which he has described as "metal as fuck", influenced by bands such as Pantera and Slipknot. On May 1, 2012, it was revealed that the project will be called AxeWound and will feature Liam Cormier, Mike Kingswood, Joe Copcutt and Jason Bowld.

In May 2012, it was announced that Bullet For My Valentine would be playing at the South African music festival Oppikoppi. They were slated to play in the country for the Coke Zero Fest of 2009, but pulled out at the last minute to record Fever.

It was confirmed on August 6th that the final recording session of the band's fourth studio record was complete, and that the album would be out sometime in late 2012.

Later that month on the 17th, the second line-up for the Australian music festival Soundwave was announced, containing Bullet for My Valentine.

Musical style and influences

Bullet for My Valentine are primarily deemed as a contemporary metal band. With detailed statements, their music has been described by critics as heavy metal, metalcore and thrash metal. The band has cited being influenced by bands such as Metallica, Annihilator, Pantera, Machine Head, Iron Maiden, Guns N' Roses, Testament, Stuck Mojo, Slayer, Judas Priest, and Megadeth. These bands inspire Bullet for My Valentine's "catchy vocals, aggressive riffs, and melodies," according to Thomas. The band describe two of their albums, The Poison and Fever, as having a "super dark" tone, Tuck went on to state that "…we're a hard rock band with metal influences, and I’ve said that from Day One.” Kirk Miller of Decibel Magazine praised the band for the effort in synchronised song structures. When asked of their views on their looks, members of the band have stated that they would not change their sound or image for a commercial approach; Tuck also commented that, "Without sounding harsh, we're more interested in what our music sounds like than what our fucking hair looks like."

Band members

Current members

    Michael Paget – lead guitar, backing vocals (1998–present)

    Michael Thomas – drums, percussion (1998–present)

    Matthew Tuck – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1998–present)

    Jason James – bass guitar, vocals (2003–present)

Former members

    Nick Crandle – bass guitar (1998–2003)

Discography

Studio albums

    The Poison (2005)

    Scream Aim Fire (2008)

    Fever (2010)

Awards and achievements

    Welsh Music Award

        Best Newcomer (2004)

    Metal Hammer Golden God Award

        Best British Band (2006, 2010)

    Kerrang! Awards

        Best Single for "Tears Don't Fall" (2006)

        Best British Newcomer (2005)

        Best British Band (2008, 2009, 2010)

        Headlined Kerrang!'s 25 year anniversary tour of the UK

        Best Live Band (2010)