The Future Of British Metal?
It takes a band with a lot of self confidence and fun to be able to walk out on stage to the theme from Top Gun. Well, you can at least hope that Bullet For My Valentine were striving for the tongue in cheek factor with this choice as they saunter onto the stage, welcomed by a surge of roars from the crowd before the band pummel head first into ‘Scream, Aim, Fire’, brandishing machine gun like drumming that collides with seething guitar riffs that all but spit venom from every line. Complete with a burst of pyros to truly inject a sense of raging power, ‘Scream, Aim, Fire’ blazes with raw adrenalin, punching aggressively as the crowd match Matt Tucks growls pound for pound.
And from the instant Tuck and Co. lay claim to the stage, the Welsh quartet delve into a relentless charge of unadulterated metal from the finger defying guitar wizardry to the flaunting of rock poses that you know these guys were perfecting back in their bedrooms as kids, its all here and the Birmingham faithful are only too willing to lap it up. With all three axe men stood on a riser, it is one of these such poses that latches onto ‘Curses’, all three in a line for a bout of head banging that is ridiculously cliché but inexplicably enjoyable before normal order is resumed for a heart led attack of ‘Tears Don’t Fall’ that effortlessly soars with melodic mastery before unleashing a barrage of throat aching growls to claw at your skin.
Staring ominously into the crowd, Tuck wastes little time with chit chat, offering only the minimal naming of a song or quick quip, preferring instead to simply let the music do the talking. ‘All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)’ finds the front man leading a chant like round of singing as the crowd latch onto an old favourite whilst ‘Say Goodnight’ gently sweeps in with a tender melody before erupting in a hail of frantic guitars and thumping beats. With a colossal assault of drum beats that collide, ‘4 Words (To Choke Upon)’ makes its entrance, greeted with a raucous roar as the Bridgend band up the visceral carnage of the set, revealing snarling guitars that whip around growling vocals brilliantly.
‘Suffocating Under Words Of Sorrow’ is when Bullet really shine though, allowing them to deliver their combination of powerful riffs leading a dual guitar charge alongside harmonised vocals to even out the rough with the smooth to great effect. Having thrown in a touch of smooth into proceedings, Bullet opt for some crowd participation with ‘Heart Bursts Into Fire’, inciting the fans as the opening chords receive an almighty cheer that is matched only by a sell out crowd sing along with the anthem striving chorus as the quartet soak up the adoration of their loyal followers.
But Tuck isn’t quite ready for everyone to idly stand and watch him sing just yet though. After returning for an encore, the Welsh lads pick ‘Waking The Demon’ to gain some more action from the crowd. With the track drawing to a rousing climax, Tuck takes time to pause things, requesting the crowd to split in half for a wall of death. Of course he doesn’t have to ask twice receiving a perfect divide down the middle of the crowd as he leads his band mates into an invigoratingly energetic end to the track, complete with a collision of bodies in unison to the collision of guitars and drums of the track, with only a euphoric blast of ‘Forever And Always’ to help dust everyone back off again before the Welsh band bids all a goodnight.
Bullet For My Valentine are a polished metal machine, everything about them reeks of a determination to be the best, nothing is left to chance and whilst for many bands that may result in a lacklustre set, for Bullet it only bolsters their performance. Like it or not this is the future of British metal, and going by tonight’s offering, it’s looking pretty healthy and mighty promising.