Bullet for My Valentine - Scream Aim Fire

Genre metal Publisher Sony BMG External Links Official Bullet for My Valentine Website

Bullet for My Valentine hails from Bridgend, South Whales. Formerly known as Jeff Killed John, the band spent most of its early career covering Metallica songs in bars and clubs. Fronted by lead vocalist and guitarist Matthew Tuck, the band also includes Michael Pagnet on guitar, Jason James on bass(who replaced Nick Crandle), and Michael Thomas on drums. The band had trouble finding direction during late 90s and early 2000s, but agreed that they should play what the wanted instead of following the trends of big acts such as Limp Bizkit and Korn. After almost a year of record label attention, the band finally settled with Sony BMG in 2004. Their first full length album “Poison” was released in 2005, and the band has enjoyed moderate success ever since.

“Scream Aim Fire” was released with Sony BMG records on January 28, 2008. It was recorded primarily at the Sonic Ranch in Texas with producers Colin Richardson and Alex Cartio, who have both worked on records from similar artists such as Fightstar, Slipknot, and As I Lay Dying. Immediately, “Scream Aim Fire” shot to number 5 on the UK charts. The band is self described metal and calls its most recent release a departure from “The Poison.” Said vocalist Matthew Tuck, "The biggest difference is probably the tempo and the aggression. It's a lot more up tempo, a lot more aggressive". All in all, the album’s 11 tracks span 56 minutes and 56 seconds.

Musically, the album is aggressive, thumping, and at times downright ferocious. Its dependence on one focal point is its biggest weakness. At the core of each track is the use of heavily distorted guitars which are equally as heavily layered to give them much needed body. There are also some intricate solos that sound a lot like something from 80s hair rock. The guitars never really soar into anything too intelligent while the use of clean tones is done sparsely but masterfully. As with most music of this fashion, the percussion is led by power strokes, a lot of 16th notes, and double kick bass drum beats. Aside from the speed and well kept tempo, the drums offer little to no contributions to the album’s overall sound. It is also worth noting that over the entirety of “Scream Aim Fire” the bass lines has absolutely no independence, not even enough so to carry itself through the band’s own explosiveness.

Vocally and lyrically, Tuck does a mediocre job. Where as the music itself is very much an ode to speed metal, the vocals are much more screamo (the combination of screaming and ‘emo’ music) than anything else. ‘Deliver us from evil’ and ‘Forever Always” are some good example of this. Tuck’s voice is enjoyable enough however and helps provides a dynamic temperament. Supporting Tuck are a variety of screams and shouts from James and Paget- there is more double tracking than vocal harmonizing.

The lyrics are simple and to the point. After reading the lyrics to the title track, Scream Aim Fire has some obvious references to war. Similarly, Eye of the storm is equally as interpretable as a catastrophic environmental message. Most of the tracks play out like this- basic themes expressed through emo messages of hearts, pain, death, and blood.

“Scream Aim Fire” by Bullet For My Valentine is not going to break any hearts but it’s not going to mend any either. Although it is not worthy of originality or appraisable for rare musicianship, it does carry itself well enough to keep the band moving forward.