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Epitaph Records -- Millencolin

Like most people on this site, I didn't always lean towards the music I listen to now. In the early stages of my journey towards enlightenment, my favourite bands were Stereophonics, Oasis and Blur. The band that changed all that was Bush blah blah blah... Sometimes I wonder. Wonder what would have happened if I was 4 or 5 years younger and the band that came along was one like Taking Back Sunday. If that was the path my musical taste was to take, would I be able to understand the appeal behind Welsh rockers Bullet for My Valentine?

As I stands, I don't. If Machinehead-esque riffs are your thing, that's great. Personally, I think if music is going to be loud, it needs to sound pissed off or with attitude. Otherwise, what's the point? Sure, the riffs contained within Bullet's latest effort are heavy, and the screaming is raw and with conviction, but all 53 minutes are so damned slow, which left me completely bored and eager for the pain to stop. The closing track, which teased me all the way through enduring this repetitive tosh with its promising title of "The End," seemed like an age arriving and, weighing in at just under 7 minutes, came the closest to the loss of the will to live. Equally painful was what hit me early on in "4 Words (To Choke Upon)," when the entire band stops to "let rip" with a low note, bent down way too far and way too long. What, is that supposed to sound impressive? Seriously? I know you can play guitar! Jebus, is it too much to ask for something memorable or non-horrific?

Where BFMV lets us down with rockability, they are even further off rectifying The Poison with their whiny and Lostprophets-reminiscent choruses. Individually, they're not incredibly awful ("Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow" actually comes close to being catchy) and there's no reason why they can't strike a chord with fans of bands like Funeral for a Friend, but collectively they're all the same and constantly kill off the miniscule feeling of being rocked provided by the intros and verses, mostly caused by the lethargic and dreary mood. What, is that supposed to sound enjoyable? Seriously? I know you can whine and sound emotional! Flamin' Nora, what's wrong with trying to get kids to sing along?

Despite most of the album being at the same tempo and sounding identical, I can't knock 'em for "Intro," with its cellos and nice melodic guitar work, or the acoustic intro of "All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)", which gives a nice respite from the drab. However, neither can save this. The Poison won't make your ears bleed, it won't make you sing along, urge you to get in the pit, or come back for another listen.



People who liked this also liked:
Rise Against - The Sufferer & the WitnessBullet for My Valentine - Hand of BloodI Am Ghost - Lovers' RequiemThe Used - In Love And DeathDir en Grey - Withering to DeathNorma Jean - O' God, The AftermathBilly Talent - Billy Talent IIBilly Talent - Billy TalentRise Against - Siren Song Of The Counter CultureSum 41 - Does This Look Infected?



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    Posted by Kaylie666 on 2007-08-09 18:13:39
    My Score:

    okay well i had this huge comment about how the review guy's dad didnt love him as a child and that he was gay etc etc and how bfmv is the greatest banmd in the friggin world but then i took too long so apparently i have to write it again ...
    no
    but i will say something
    long live bullet for my valentine

    Posted by teegz on 2007-05-17 00:55:54

    dont dis this album...like ive said before pick up a fuking guitar and just try to learn the riffs...try...then if you can pay out the music but if you cant give them a break you dont know how hard it is!
    xx teegz
    www.myspace.com/pezxoxo

    Posted by jackrodd on 2007-01-09 14:20:56

    i love this band.
    this album is the shitttt.

    Posted by hevilybroken on 2006-12-27 06:49:59

    i do listen to Bullet For My Valentine myself i do like the band but honestly there songs do sound very similar at the start for example: tears dont fall/ cries in vain...but the lyrics in these songs are completly different from each other unlike the music but i guess nearly all metal sounds the same like sometimes ppl cant tel disturbed and koRn apart or woteva!! i realy like Bullet for my valentine i give the lyric side of them 5/5 and the music a 3/5 they arent the normal screamo/metal/hardcore emo stuf they have there own style in music in the way so we cannot rely classifie them as screamo/hardcore emo/metal etc... but only look or listen to them as therown! now that is why i like them the lyrics in ther songs are absolutly relateable wel 4 me it is i guess thats why i listen to them for instance in "curses" ...
    "we;ve waited far too long to watch it all crash and fall through so when you feel lyk sh* t you gotta keep on pushing.. if you saw the world through my eyes then you wouldnt feel so high rise its time to take a chance you gotta sit back and hold tight... etc... the more i think the more i wish i'd push stop and hit rewind,...i remember when we all used to kik bak take days off skool many times ive smiled many times ive cried but never did we try...

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    so yeah wel thats mi point of view mwa oxox all mi love and more booboo

    Posted by sexy_face on 2006-11-17 17:20:52
    My Score:

    i absolutly love this band. this is the kind of music i live for.
    they will never die in punk music!!

    Posted by vikko on 2006-08-16 19:11:10

    This album is a true masterpiece, this is how music should be created. This is a great mix of metal, punk and screamo. Totally crazy parts and partly smooth.

    If this band was from the U.S, what would the score be? 4.5/5? You Americans are so fucking patriotic. Can't accept anything from a diffrent country / culture.

    Fuck off United States!

    (By the way I'm from Sweden)

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 3, 2006 at 5:32 AM (EDT)

    americans.. bleh.. think they know everything bout everything.

    Posted by rocon65 on 2006-04-06 12:58:45

    I love them!!!! Matt Tuck is really really hottttttttttt!!!!!!!!!

    Posted by rocon65 on 2006-04-06 12:58:07

    I love them!!!! Matt Tuck is really really hottttttttttt!!!!!!!!!

    Posted by miff on 2006-03-17 17:20:56
    My Score:

    "Not to support this band in any way, shape or form, this is not meant as defense or a compliment, yada yada yada, but...
    Why do so many American bands sing with british accents when they're American?"

    name one?

    if they sang in wlesh accents it would be funnier too

    oh n if i didnt mention bofre this band suck

    Posted by jbigwig on 2006-03-12 10:20:20
    My Score:

    I'm going to call bull shit on this review. All the supposed "scenesters" bash these guys, and I wonder why? Granted there's nothing new here in terms of melodic hardcore and you can hear elements of Funeral for a Friend in their music, but I wouldn't throw these cats in the middle of the screamo genre at all.

    There's some damn impressive drumming and riffing on this album that deserves some props. This is one of the best sounding albums I've heard in 06', hands down.

    By the way where the hell is the new Bigwig review?

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 7, 2006 at 5:15 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    your an idiot if you cant at least like the music they produce. Not every is going to love th singing 'coz of some screaming, but they hav mad riffs and i would like to see someone make that many riffs in a song or album. All their music is catchy and all the riffs are especially catchy

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, February 16, 2006 at 3:32 PM (EST)

    Bullet for My Valentine - The Poison
    Posted by Anonymous on 2006-02-15 02:48:05

    speaking of machinehead....i just can't get into fucking bands like that... machine head, fear factory, etc. Boring. If it's gonna be pissed off and angry, i like my music fast, heavy and energetic.
    never heard burn my eyes, eh?

    -----------------

    Yeah, and don't forget the new one...it's pretty bad-ass though
    the other CDs...hmhm...not that great

    Posted by rkl on 2006-02-16 12:23:22

    Bullet for My Valentine - The Poison
    Posted by Anonymous on 2006-02-15 02:48:05

    speaking of machinehead....i just can't get into fucking bands like that... machine head, fear factory, etc. Boring. If it's gonna be pissed off and angry, i like my music fast, heavy and energetic.

    never heard burn my eyes, eh?

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, February 16, 2006 at 9:34 AM (EST)

    wow..nobody likes this band..ahah
    fuck it i dont like them too...

    Posted by thirtyseconds on 2006-02-16 07:58:15

    Yeah, there were some fantastic tracks on the Darkness CD. Rock on

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, February 16, 2006 at 12:22 AM (EST)

    Give me the new Darkness CD over this ANYDAY.

    Posted by mikeinflames on 2006-02-15 22:23:09
    My Score:

    why is when dumb little scene kids don't like a metal band they automatically call them metalcore
    i've heard everyone from in flames to chimaira to all that remains to arch enemy called metalcore
    it doesn't make sense
    just because you don't like them doesn't make them metalcore
    using the word metalcore to describe a band you're realatively unfamilliar with makes you an asshat

    with that aside this band is fairly solid musically
    but it ends there
    the lyrics/vocals are really bad
    if this album was an instrumental it would be amazing

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 at 10:16 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    A bullet for my boner is more like it.

    Posted by crazytoledo on 2006-02-15 21:05:26

    The solos on this album are pretty good for a fashioncoreish band.

    Posted by clamum on 2006-02-15 16:32:22
    My Score:

    What the fuck is up with reviewing trash like this on this site? Goddamn.

    Posted by kenfuggit on 2006-02-15 15:41:26

    Dude, I gotta second that comment about negative approach. Why is that metalcore bands who spend fifty kajillion dollars buying amps and the best recording studios on the planet get blown out of the water by 2 or 3 seconds of any given Nine Shocks Terror song recorded on a boombox? Face it, trustkill/euology/thorp bands: you are fucking posers who are better off playing emo.

    -Ken

    Posted by ThreeChordsAndTheTruth on 2006-02-15 11:29:12

    What's with all these Welsh scenexcore bands trying to sound American? I'm looking at you Lostprophets (sellouts! You used to play nu-metal!), FFAF (http://www.scenepointblank.com/reviews/295) and now these guys.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 at 11:12 AM (EST)

    Lets hear it for fake screamo/emo hip, hip horray...BANG.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 at 11:10 AM (EST)

    This is great if your names Jason Tate, everybody else, will hate it (unless your 15 perhaps? or trying to get laid with young girls)

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 at 7:52 AM (EST)

    this kind of music may be tough and well crafted and really hard but it bores me..how can it be: I´m 23 years old now and the 1981 Alb from Negative Approach makes all those metalcore and trustkill ands look like weak shit

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 at 5:53 AM (EST)

    "Like most people on this site, I didn't always lean towards the music I listen to now. In the early stages of my journey towards enlightenment, my favourite bands were Stereophonics, Oasis and Blur. The band that changed all that was Bush blah blah blah... "

    You're either joking or have eternally bad taste.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 at 2:48 AM (EST)

    speaking of machinehead....i just can't get into fucking bands like that... machine head, fear factory, etc. Boring. If it's gonna be pissed off and angry, i like my music fast, heavy and energetic.

    Posted by Godfather on 2006-02-15 02:29:58

    ha, i just noticed will made the first comment so it definitely wasnt him....$20 says it was aubin

    Posted by Godfather on 2006-02-15 02:27:32
    My Score:

    no way in hell will likes this turdlet....scott, maybe....but scott doesnt seem like the person to back down from saying what he feels about a band he knows everyone hates...it wouldnt surprise me if it was an admin....again, no possible way it was will

    Posted by Dante3000 on 2006-02-15 01:42:55

    Fuck the haters on this one. This is with out a date the best new release of 06. The melodic taste of this band leaves me in a daze of tranquility and sheer satisfaction.
    I posted anonymously to protect the innocent!

    Scott or Will...$20 right now...who's game?
    -Dante

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 at 1:00 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    Maybe some scene kids will accidentally pick up My Bloody Valentine instead of this and make the world a better place.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 at 11:27 PM (EST)

    at least they released this on Valentine's Day

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 at 9:55 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Fuck the haters on this one. This is with out a date the best new release of 06. The melodic taste of this band leaves me in a daze of tranquility and sheer satisfaction.
    I posted anonymously to protect the innocent!

    Posted by crazytoledo on 2006-02-14 18:14:20

    come on Trustkill stop pretending you have something in common with punk or hardcore

    They inked a deal with Sony Music Worldwide, Trustkill only handles dthe American release, in an interview the one guy in this band pretty much said something like: Sony wouldnt know what to do with us, so they got a label that does to do it for them.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 at 6:02 PM (EST)

    hi cheese!

    Posted by Testiclese on 2006-02-14 17:40:45
    My Score:

    blur is awesome, score is for blur

    Posted by skolarx on 2006-02-14 17:39:20

    the intro is the only good part of this cd, and only because it has apocalyptica on it

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 at 5:22 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    come on Trustkill stop pretending you have something in common with punk or hardcore

    Posted by dietcokeofpunk on 2006-02-14 17:12:59

    holy shitte! their video is almost 20mins long. not worth torturing myself for that long..

    Posted by boba_fett on 2006-02-14 17:05:23
    My Score:

    some of the songs are fucking catchy, although i cant stand it when a band that wants to be hardcore starts singing with those emo voices. give me some terror.

    and hey: that bend on 4 words is cool. especially when they do it at 2:20.

    overall though, not really my genre and i dont like the whinny singing. but at the same time, some of the songs really are catchy. they get points for that.

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 at 5:02 PM (EST)

    Bigwig.......?
    Yeah I know, they aren't as punk as Matchbook Romance & Bullet For My Valentine are, but come on!

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 at 4:45 PM (EST)

    2nd the no metal core, although intrigued by the gangsta metalcore

    Posted by kenfuggit on 2006-02-14 15:27:01

    Its so funny how now we have "passionate" metalcore, "emo" metalcore, "political" metalcore and "gangsta" metalcore. My favorite is "no" metalcore.

    -ken

    Posted by Dante3000 on 2006-02-14 14:18:51

    Not to support this band in any way, shape or form, this is not meant as defense or a compliment, yada yada yada, but...
    Why do so many American bands sing with british accents when they're American?


    Because it's all Tim Armstrong knows?
    -Dante

    Posted by Scruffy on 2006-02-14 13:59:01

    "y do they sing in american accents when theyre welsh"

    Not to support this band in any way, shape or form, this is not meant as defense or a compliment, yada yada yada, but...
    Why do so many American bands sing with british accents when they're American?

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 at 1:53 PM (EST)

    "Happy Valentines Day! (Blahm) You're dead.
    Love,
    Dick Cheney"

    That is the funniest thing you have ever written, and I anonymously hate on you a lot. That cracked me up though.

    Posted by miff on 2006-02-14 13:50:40
    My Score:

    y do they sing in american accents when theyre welsh

    Posted by thegetaway on 2006-02-14 13:15:00

    If you are a crap core band as this one is there are two things that must happen in the choosing of a band name.

    1. The name must contain some sort of reference to romance, or one of the four seasons.

    2. There has to be a cliche remark about something violent.

    Bullelt for My Valentine- it passes the test. Congratulations guys on being grouped in with the most cliche sounding crappy music ever. Do us all a favor spare your valentine and use the bullet on your band.

    Posted by davebrave4 on 2006-02-14 13:10:00

    Most pointlessly introspective review I've ever read.

    Posted by crazytoledo on 2006-02-14 13:02:57

    These guys arent that bad. I got their cd (for free...hahahahaha) and it has a few good songs.

    But then I didnt pay for it, my only complain is people will hate this because there extremly 'scene' and 'trendy'.

    Posted by Dante3000 on 2006-02-14 12:43:13

    Happy Valentines Day! (Blahm) You're dead.
    Love,
    Dick Cheney

    Fuck these donut asses.
    -Dante

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 at 12:37 PM (EST)

    Bullshit For My Valentine rocks!

    Posted by sirens on 2006-02-14 12:37:08

    It looks like that woman has some big ole titties

    Posted by Godfather on 2006-02-14 12:30:54
    My Score:

    hey, at least they don't have a cliche band name.....

    Posted by the_other_scott on 2006-02-14 12:28:34

    nevermind i reread that sentence. i thought the "didn't" said "don't"

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 at 12:26 PM (EST)

    Terrible band and terrible review. Can I please have my time back?

    Posted by the_other_scott on 2006-02-14 12:23:54

    i don't undestand the first sentence.

    also -- to go along with what will said. i could give a shit about what bands play what. i just wish that the shitty music wouldn't get so much coverage

    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 at 12:16 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    This crap has to stop.

    These bands are no good. This style of music was never any good.

    -Will