posted 11/17/2005 (Thu) @ 07:02 pm
>>> Music Reviews
Bullet for My Valentine - The Poison (2005)
The curse of the poison of the used bloody dead shadows in blackest night will engage the killswitch
- Intro
- Her Voice Resides
- 4 Words (To Choke Upon)
- Tears Don’t Fall
- Suffocating Under Words Of Sorrow (What Can I Do)
- Hit The Floor
- Al These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)
- Room 409
- Poison
- 10 Years Today
- Cries In Vain
- Spit You Out
- End
Sew up “Master of Puppets” with Iron Maiden and In Flames riffs and a predisposition towards gothic lyrical melodrama and artistic expression a la The Cure (”Tears Don’t Fall,” “Hand of Blood,” “Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do),” etc.). Then, add some kids with a tour van full of black hair dye and replacement belt studs, and you have this band.
Like other albums made by bands pillaging the legacy of Gothenburg, “The Poison” is chock full of harmonized lead guitar set against a pounding rhythm section, and the vocals swerve between the extremes of an on-the-verge-of-suicide Billie Joe Armstrong and Varg Vikernes with a sore throat. It’s too hard to be pop, but it’s too whiny to be metal; it’s too derivative to be praised as a classic, but Bullet for My Valentine are too Welsh to be overlooked by record companies in the wake of other successful acts from Wales like Funeral for a Friend and Lostprophets.
Like the records that inspired it, “The Poison” gets old quick, but moments of unadulterated six string masturbation sprinkled throughout will bring you out of the inevitable tunnel vision reverie Bullet for My Valentine’s songwriting will induce.
Bottom line: if you’re itching for a new Atreyu record, here it is. Otherwise, skip it.
Tags: emo, hardcore, metalcore, punk, screamo
