Bullet For My Valentine

Vocalist Matt Tuck recently exploded his new supergroup AxeWound into the world but has been just as busy with his fame-defining band Bullet for My Valentine.

The Welsh metal monsters have just released their fourth studio album Temper Temper, a follow-up to 2010’s Fever.

Drummer Michael ‘Moose’ Thomas reckons it’s their strongest album yet. “I think the quality is much stronger than our last album.” With some numbers in the classic ‘Bullet style’ on the album, “there are definitely some songs on there that are different from what we’ve ever done before,” says Thomas. With some ‘experimental’ variables, Moose reckons that “some of these songs are a bit more complex than the older stuff.”

An example of the originality in the new album is the band writing a follow-up to one of their tracks which they have never done before. “Matt and I sat in Thailand after a long day of writing. We had sunk a couple of beers and he [Tuck] thought we should write a sequel to one of our songs.”

A decision made by the duo after they reached out to the online social networking world with a poll, “we asked on Facebook and Twitter and loads of people came back with loads of different songs.”

One particular song held strongest in the lead against any of the others; “and that’s how ‘Tears Don’t Fall Part II’ was born.

There have been a few changes in the BFMV camp and one of them was skipping the demoing stage during production. “It was a more spontaneous action than a planned situation really,” says the drummer. “Personally I’d like to have had more time on them [to perfect].”
“I think the quality is much stronger than our last album… some of these songs are a bit more complex than the older stuff.”

This comes with the risk of falling into the trap of overplaying and overthinking, “so it was a more raw and ripe vibe which was cool,” he adds, in addition to the powerful and energetic escalation.

Predecessor Fever had some aggressive themes and Temper Temper has continued with this trend which is organic with the style that this metal band typically project.

“Mainly it’s about anger related issues,” Moose says of their latest album. “Matt writes the lyrics and I guess it’s about being on end point of Fever and touring.” Notably being on the road for an extensive amount of time shaped the experiences and motivated the lyrics.

“We all needed a break from each other so I think some songs on the album are representative of how we were all feeling at the time.” Like when spending time with anyone, eventually you just want to ‘Scream Aim Fire’.

Obviously after a decent break, Bullet For My Valentine are ready to jump on the tour bus again. “If it was just me I would just play the full record in its entirety and that’s something we’ve talked about doing before,” perhaps at a much smaller and intimate venue, Moose adds, “but I don’t think we’re going to do that because we have seen bands receive a bad reception doing that.”

But despite the rumours, he still has to scratch that itch. “There’s a home show in Cardiff before we come to Australia and I’d like to play [the album] there,” though nothing has been decided yet.

Some artists have found success in playing a new album in full during their launch campaign but strategically throw some classics in the setlist as well to keep the crowd smiling.

Fact: Bullet for My Valentine have never played a single show without including ‘Tears Don’t Fall’ in the setlist. “Yeah, I think the audience would be pretty pissed off if we didn’t play that track,” Moose sniggers. “Fans pay lots of money to hear those career defining tracks live, so we gotta deliver the goods to them.”

Having embedded themselves in the world, and earning a high level of respect, the band were soon urged by their own curiosity to explore, musically.

Obviously Tuck was occupied in 2012 with his supergroup AxeWound ,in addition to the production of Temper Temper. “He approached me and asked me how I felt [about starting AxeWound],” which of course Moose was supportive about on one condition; “as long as it doesn’t clash with any Bullet activity.”

Thankfully BFMV were taking most of the year off, which avoided any time clashes between the bands. “It was a positive thing for us really as the AxeWound album inspired Matt with his approach to our new record.”

With Axewound member Liam Cornier’s main concern, Cancer Bats, set for the Soundwave festival as well as Bullet for My Valentine, there were rumours of AxeWound appearing on the lineup.

“If it was just me I would just play the full record in its entirety and that’s something we’ve talked about doing before.”

Festival promoter AJ Maddah quickly squashed those rumours on in his infamous Twitter account, indicating he would prefer the two focus on their primary bands on the tour.

“It’s difficult for AxeWound especially because each member has their own personal bands as well,” says Moose. Therefore, logistically “it can be quite complicated to organise all of them to be available in the same place at a particular point in time.”

Of course as Cancer Bats are good friends of the band, they are joining Bullet on their east coast sidewaves (as well as Miss May I). These artists share a bill with some of the biggest names in the game; they have even recorded some Metallica covers. “They’re definitely the biggest influence for the band and every time we see them, they are just simply amazing,” admits the drummer.

Moose is also looking forward to catching some other bands during the five leg festival. “We’re pretty good mates with Slayer so it will be could to catch them at Soundwave.”

“There’s a hardcore band called Vision of Disorder that I’ve never seen before. I had tickets to a show of theirs from when I was 19 years old but was not able to go,” and seeing Blink 182 is on the agenda for the drummer as well.

As for those heading out to see Bullet For My Valentine themselves? Here’s what you can expect: “heaps of energy, loads of new songs and just fun times really.”

Temper Temper is out now through Sony. Bullet For My Valentine tour with Soundwave 2013 around the country from Saturday 23rd February, playing times here. They also play Sidewaves shows in Brisbane and Sydney with Cancer Bats & Miss May I, dates and details below.