When you think of bands like Bullet For My Valentine, you probably think of radio-friendly, teenage-oriented metalcore bands. Well…you would be correct, but the next tendency would more than likely be to wave these bands away without giving a second thought. I always think this could be dangerous, because you could potentially be missing on something really amazing, even if it’s not your usual cup of tea. But sometimes, as is the case with their new album Venom, your preconceived notions could end up being completely accurate.
I don’t imagine that there are a ton of regular readers who would consider Bullet For My Valentine one of their favorite groups of all time. And truth be told, neither would I. I remember listening to The Poison, 10 years ago when this style of metalcore was at an incredibly high popularity. I definitely didn’t hate it but still preferred to listen to other bands of even similar genres. It’s been a while since I’ve given them an in-depth listen, and I tried to remain optimistic all throughout. Instead, I ended up facing a pretty interesting and unexpected challenge when coming to terms with my full opinions.
One of my biggest problems, in trying to write out a proper and cohesive critique for Venom was trying to find the best way to spin my thoughts. If I give too much focus on certain aspects, this review could have an overarching negative or positive spin, and I don’t think it’s really that simple in this case. I suppose I can just lay both sides of the argument out there, and allow you to determine which one is more accurate.
My biggest issue with Venom is that any one of these tracks could’ve been on The Poison and I never would have noticed. This whole album drips of 2000’s metalcore so much that it’s almost nostalgic. There are lots of clean vocals, dueling guitars, breakdowns, gang vocals, and plenty of lyrics involving personal issues of insecurity and overcoming them. When perusing their entire library to note of any trends or changes in their sound, it was clear that their overall signature sound has definitely not changed at all over the years. Usually, when a band has been around for 10 years, you expect to hear a little bit of growth, or change in a band’s sound which results in things not getting stagnant, and draws new fans in as well as satisfying the old. But BFMV seems to just release the same album year after year after year, and Venom is no exception to that trend.
"No Way Out" (Lyric)
However, there happen to be multitudes of people who really enjoy 2000’s style metalcore, and BFMV for that matter. And for what it is, Venom is actually incredibly well done. I happen to be a big fan of 2000’s style metalcore, and every element was definitely in place, and done the right way it possibly could be done. Songs are full of energy with a healthy amount of double bass and double picking, screams done for emphasis, and some incredibly well done guitar solos. The album also has a pretty good mix of the faster-paced songs, to the slower and more emotion-heavy tracks. I mean really, it’s just plain and simple metalcore, and there’s not much else to nitpick or extract to give you a clearer picture. If you know the general feeling of metalcore, especially in the 2000’s, then you already know what to expect on Venom.
"Army Of Noise" (Audio)
Whether you will like this album or not will basically boil down to your love or hate for metalcore. The thing is that many people really look for consistency in bands from album to album and if it’s one thing that Bullet For My Valentine has been, it’s definitely consistent. It’s hard for me to knock the band for an album like Venom, because while it doesn’t have an ounce of anything that could be taken as “cutting edge”, it was still a good album. Personally, I really enjoyed listening to Venom. However, I also can’t shake off the feeling of boredom creeping because Venom might as well be The Poison Part 5. All I know is that I probably won’t exactly be looking forward to the next Bullet For My Valentine album, given their track record. But I also definitely won’t ever have an ounce of disrespect for a band that can put out a well-accomplished album like Venom.
"You Want A Battle (Here's A War)
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