Album Review

Welsh thrash/metalcore band Bullet for My Valentine sold a lot of records out of the gate with their 2006 album The Poison, blending old-school metal riffing and emo lyrical content in a manner similar to Stateside peers like Atreyu. On their second album, 2008's Scream Aim Fire, they evolved into a much more aggressive and assured metal act, going a little easier on the overwrought diary-entry lyrics in favor of Trivium-style anthems like "Eye of the Storm" and "Waking the Demon." On their third disc, they consolidate their style and split the difference between their two previous discs, offering ultra-clean singing and overwrought lost-love lyrics atop a bed of gated and triggered drums, staccato guitar riffing, and arena-friendly soloing. Having apparently overcome the throat problems that plagued him around the time of Scream Aim Fire, Matt Tuck's vocals are powerful and committed, whether on heavy tracks like "Your Betrayal" or ballads like "Bittersweet Memories." This isn't a pathbreaking album by a band with any chance at reshaping their genre in their image; it's a solid disc by a group that knows its own strengths. ~ Phil Freeman, Rovi