The Poison

挟带令人惊艳厚实美式摇滚风格的Bullet For My Valentine(以下简称BFMV)，却是不折不扣的英国乐团。由主唱/吉他手Matthew Tuck、吉他手/合音Michael Padget、贝斯手Nik Cradle及鼓手Michael Thomas四位于1998年组军完毕，起初以「Jeff Killed John」之名专门翻唱「金属制品」与「超脱乐团」作品，看着同期Lostprophets、Funeral For A Friend等团相继扬名全球摇滚舞台，BFMV的际遇却没计划中顺遂，就在Nik不想浪费时间消磨在乐团上而离开，导致BFMV分崩离析。休息并沉淀一阵子，仍咽不下一口气，找来新任贝斯手Jason James重组起BFMV，团名也一度由Jeff Killed John改名Opportunity In Chigago。2004年获签独立厂牌发行首张EP《Hand Of Blood》，随后赢得美国厂牌欢迎，正式引进国际摇滚市场，深具公信力之金属/摇滚杂志Kerrang!推选BFMV为「最佳英国新晋乐团」。 首张完整录音室作品《The Poison》，伴随百万吨强力高压气流直袭而来，请来金属摇滚界制作/混音大将Colin Richardson(Machine Head、Fear Factory、Cannibal Corpse)操盘加持。成功地将Nu-Metal的爆炸力与Ska-Punk的流行性混种，在加上大段的吉他Solo，开创出全新的金属道路。 BFMV流泄过瘾鞭打金属声响，在嘶吼狂放〈The Voice Resides〉开场中，挟带怒金属与硬蕊庞克交错敲打下，唤醒每位金属迷们激昂情绪；曾以限量1000张发行即刻抢购一空之首攻单曲〈4 Words(To Choke Upon)〉，顺利打入英国金榜Top40，可以很失控濒崩溃边缘演唱，也可正常热血演出，睽违已久的吉他Solo并在曲中来回穿绕；2005年接连全数打入英国金榜Top37及Top29的〈Suffocating Under Words Of Sorrow〉、〈All These Things I Hate Revolve Around Me〉，仍能轻易挑起随之甩头晃脑的爽劲快感；毫无冷场可言的《The Poison》专辑，如同乘坐云霄飞车般刺激，曲毕后仍久久无法自己沉浸其中，让你感动BFMV出现之余，更感谢还有金属/摇滚乐的存在！ Bullet for My Valentine hails from the same stomping grounds in South Wales as peers Funeral for a Friend, thus sparking comparisons between the Welsh acts that go further than a fondness for dark, morose band names. It's hard to deny a certain likeness to their Funeral friends throughout The Poison -- check out the dynamics of "Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow" -- but the difference lies with BFMV's songs falling much closer to the metal side of things, chugging harder through emotional lyrics than their melodic counterparts. For fans of Alexisonfire and Atreyu, they employ the glossy, melodic metal-meets-emo aesthetic, utilizing darkly romanticized lyrics that are smoothly sung and growled side-by-side. Bullet for My Valentine's self-proclaimed love of powerful riffs and classic metal is dotted all over their full-length debut ("Room 409," "Spit You Out"), though it begins with a deceivingly tranquil instrumental intro that leads directly into the metalcore realms of "Her Voice Resides." This song is one of many that, despite its rigorous execution, can't hide the fact that the guys are really softies at heart ("my heart is bursting through my chest/ and now I'm crying, the tears are pouring off my face"). Overall, The Poison is a well-produced, solid effort -- but seeing as they're now trying to take over American hearts, it would be nice to see future attempts to distinguish themselves more from the new-school pack.