Bullet for My Valentine are a Metalcore band (also dabbling in Heavy Metal and Thrash Metal) from Bridgend, Wales. They formed in 1998 as Jeff Killed John. The members are: Matthew Tuck (vocals, guitar), Padge (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jamie Mathias (bass, vocals) and Moose (drums) former members include Jay James (bass, vocals) and before their genre shift and name change Nick Crandle (bass).
Also, try not to confuse them with My Bloody Valentine, it's been a problem.
Current members:
- Matthew "Matt" Tuck – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1998–present); bass (2003–2015)
- Michael "Padge" Paget – lead guitar, backing vocals (1998–present)
- Jamie Mathias – bass, backing vocals (2015–present)
- Jason Bowld – drums, percussion (2017–present; touring member 2016–2017)
Former members:
- Nick Crandle – bass (1998–2003)
- Jason "Jay" James – bass, backing vocals (2003–2015)[171]
- Michael "Moose" Thomas – drums, percussion (1998–2016)
Discography:
- The Poison (2005)
- Scream Aim Fire (2008)
- Fever (2010)
- Temper Temper (2013)
- Venom (2015)
- Gravity (2018)
- Bullet for My Valentine (2021)
This band provides examples of:
- Cover Version: The band has covered a few classic songs, including Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" and Metallica's "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" and "Creeping Death".
- "Double, Double" Title: Their 2013 album titled Temper Temper.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: A few songs from their early EPs, namely "Seven Days" and "Turn to Despair" have a prominent Nu Metal influence due to Bullet starting off as, well... a Nu Metal band. Padge had more of a vocal presence on the earlier tracks, with Padge doing lead screams on "Turn to Despair" which contrasts with Scream Aim Fire onwards where it's solely Matt screaming and singing.
- Emo: A hybrid of this, heavy/thrash metal, and metalcore.
- Epic Rocking: "The End" and "Forever and Always".
- Genre Shift: Bullet for my Valentine's sixth album Gravity sees the band shifting from metalcore to nu metal. Amusingly enough, this is how they got their start, so this is also a case of Revisiting the Roots.
- I Am the Band: Temper Temper was written and recorded entirely by Matt and Moose. Matt also played the bass parts on Venom, as Jamie didn't have enough time to make his own creative contributions to the band when he joined.
- "I Hate" Song: "Parasite", the opening song of their self-titled album is a particularly angry example of this.
- Keet: Jay was known for being rather hyperactive during shows or interviews
- New Sound Album:
- Scream Aim Fire has a Thrash Metal sound very akin to Megadeth and Slayer, and features much less screaming.
- Fever has more '80s Hard Rock influences than the previous albums.
- Subverted with Venom, as it's stylistically a hybrid of the sounds of the first two albums.
- Gravity has a lot more electronic elements to it, and simpler guitar riffs being described by some as Nu Metal.
- The Self-Titled Album marks a return to the thrash metal sounds of Scream Aim Fire but it also adds influences from Groove Metal and a far stronger emphasis on Matthew's screams, the end result being the band's heaviest album sonically speaking.
- Nobody Loves the Bassist: Subverted. They've had two stable bassists in Jay James and Jamie Mathias. This is more of the case that Jay never contributed to any of the studio work he's credited on. Meanwhile, Mathias was absent from Venom. In other words, Matt Tuck does all the bass parts on the material released during Jay's tenure in the band.
- Power Ballad: "Hearts Burst Into Fire", "Bittersweet Memories" and the second half of "The Very Last Time".
- Rearrange the Song: They reworked several Jeff Killed John songs into material for their debut album "The Poison" and their first EP.
- Rage Breaking Point: Many of their songs are about rage and anger, and deal with either the aftermath or build up to this trope.
- Invoked in the songs "Breaking Point" and "Temper Temper". The former has shades of various anger tropes, and details the lead up to the eponymous Breaking Point, while the latter has the aspects of other anger tropes. Basically, they document what happens to anyone who has experienced bullying, to the point where the victim cannot take it anymore and retaliates; the end result being seen in "Temper Temper".
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: "Worthless" and "Parasite" being prime examples.
- Thrash Metal: Their second album, Scream Aim Fire has influences of such.
- Title Track: Every release since Hand of Blood has had one. Their self-titled album is the only exception.
- Vocal Evolution: Both Matt and the former bassist Jay went through significant vocal changes through their work, Matt had a higher voice with a more prominent Welsh accent during the first two EPs and The Poison, which became more neutral in following releases, after his surgery for a long time his screams weren't as intense and sounded more strained, as of writing this post Venom his screams have become more powerful and midrange, though he doesn't scream as often as he used to.
- As for Jay's when the band began he had more of a high scream, more of a pig's squeal, as time went on his scream became deeper. Unfortunately, Jay never performed in studio.
- War Is Hell: "Scream Aim Fire" describes a chaotic battle which appears to be causing horrific casualties on both sides.God has spoken thorough His conscience
As I scream, aim, and fire, the death toll grows higher
