Bullet for My Valentine

Scream Aim Fire (Zomba)
by Scott Hefflon

Two records deep, and perhaps one of the most over-hyped metal bands on the planet. Don’t get me wrong, there are a handful or two of enjoyable moments for anyone who ever wondered what a band covering Metallica, Loverboy/Night Ranger, and In Flames might sound like if they strove to write “original” tunes, cuz that’s basically how this Welch band got their start. Without the Loverboy/Night Ranger covers, I’m sure, but they probably copied plenty of ’03-’05 emo metal puss-bags, cuz when not roaring to show they’ve got a pair, they remind me of White Lion covers by opening bands I endured in the late ’80s cuz if ya got there early enough, ya didn’t have to pay the cover. Shiver.

I like pickles. I like ice cream. I don’t like the two of them together. And I wouldn’t assume Ben & Jerry’s knows how to make a kick-ass pickle, and Vlasic might make a very tasty pickles (I’m a Clausen man, myself), but it’d be a hard to convince me their ice cream was edible. You with me here?

The band is cool enough to allow posts of lots of slagging they’ve gotten in the press on their Wikipedia page (plenty of prima donnas woulda fought tooth and nail to get that stuff removed), which kinda goes along with my general opinion of them: They seem to like themselves enough for all of us, so it’s perfectly ok for me to find them solid musicians, but lacking any originality or style to call their own.
(www.bulletformyvalentine1.com)