Review Summary: A great album with distinctive few great songs but falls short to really stand out from the crowd of current metalcore bands with constant songs that sound repetitive and often at times bland.
Bullet For My Valentine start out their humble beginnings with their first album kindly named 'The Poison'. Starting off relatively unknown to many, this slowly changed around 2005/2006 with the release of the EP 'Hand Of Blood', but one year on and we finally see the first album by this band and ultimately placing them out there into the metalcore scene. 'The Poison' debuted at 128 on the Billboard 200 charts and went on to sell thousands of copies throughout the world.
Track 1: Intro (Feat. Apocalyptica) ~ 3/5
A slow melodic start to the album, the intro really sets up the rest of the album with the soothing violins in the background and gradual small guitar riffs at the end of the song.
Track 2: Her Voice Resides ~ 3/5
Starts off with a bang and of course, the guitar riffs soon begin to kick in around the first few seconds of the song. The drums are nothing really special and the vocals by matt are not exactly ground breaking. A few chug chug classic metalcore moments here and there but I feel there is no real flow to this song, although the clean parts and ending guitar solo are pretty sweet I must say.
Track 3: 4 Words To Choke Upon ~ 3.5/5
Coming straight from their extended play, this song starts off really well. There is a catchy chorus throughout the whole song but I felt that this song doesn't exactly have that real kick to it but maybe I'm just not feeling the whole vibe around it.
Track 4: Tears Don't Fall ~ 5/5
This song was exactly what I was hoping from this band and boy did they deliver one hell of a song. Don't let the slow soft intro fool you because once that scream and opening guitar riff kicks in, this song does not stop. A very catchy chorus that will have you singing along and the guitar and drum work in this song is just phenomenal. Might get a little repetitive at the end but like I've said, the guitar really is fantastic in this song and makes me wanna play this on my speakers over and over.
Track 5: Suffocating Under Words Of Sorrow ~ 4.5/5
Launching straight into this song, you can tell that it is going to be one fast paced song. The lyrics are not exactly top notch but you just gotta love the ending riff by padge/matt is really soothing. A classic song of this album and in my opinion, one of the better songs as well.
Track 6: Hit The Floor ~ 4/5
Think of this track as starting off soft and melodically quiet. Well that changes throughout the song and the anger that matt screams during parts of the chorus really kicks in nicely. In my opinion, this is one of the catchier songs of this album.
Track 7: All These Things I Hate Revolve Around Me ~ 4.5/5
The first and only acoustic song of the album, this will no doubt turn heads. If there was one song that I would recommended to someone who is just getting into this genre and doesn't like the heavy screaming/vocals then this would definably be the song. A perfect blend of heaviness and softness, it is hard to explain this song but I just love the lyrics and much like all the other songs, the ending riff is short but sweet.
Track 8: Room 409 ~ 3.5/5
Introduction starts off with drumming and an opening riff and soon turns into another bland song and much like the start of the album, it feels to much of the same but another catchy chorus saves this song along with the best drumming song of the album.
Track 9: The Poison ~ 3/5
I might soon start to sound like a broken wreck but adhering to the formula pretty much used throughout the whole album, this sounds very similar to the other songs and another song with a catchy tune to it.
Track 10: 10 Years Today ~ 3.5/5
Again with the rinse and repeat formula pretty much used throughout this whole album, this song is slightly better in my opinion because of the really sweet clean vocal parts done by matt. Though like I already said, this falls back to the generic metalcore formula.
Track 11: Cries In Vain ~ 4/5
I love the intro of this song, not much more I guess I can say but another catchy riff and chorus. I think the start of the song begins with a bass guitar, might need clarification but it is used throughout the whole song and I really enjoyed this song compared to the generic past three songs before this one.
Track 12: Spit You Out ~ 4/5
A great progression in the song and I especially love the nice guitar intro and one of the better songs of the album. Chorus is really catchy and flows coherently.
There are also a bunch of bonus songs which I have decided not to incorporate into this review. Overall, I'm fairly pleased with this album and thoroughly enjoyed most of it. However, for the most part there are parts which felt repetitive and some songs felt similar (or adhered to the classic metalcore formula). Regardless, a good start for the band 'Bullet For My Valentine' but with their next album a change in diversity of the songs would help them distinguish themselves from the other bands in this genre.
Overall Rating ~ 3.5/5
Best Songs ~ Tears Don't Fall Suffocating Under Words Of Sorrow
Worst Songs ~ Her Voice Resides, The Poison
Thanks for reading - Luminous.
