Welsh alternative metal band Bullet For My Valentine has come a long way in a short time in their music career. Getting their start covering Metallica and Nirvana songs under the name Jeff Killed John in 1998, they reworked their sound and became the band we know today. Composed of Matthew “Matt” Tuck (lead vocals, guitar) Michael “Padge” Paget (guitar), Michael “Moose” Thomas (drums) and Jason “Jay” James (bass) the band went on to release their major label debut The Poison (2005). The Poison was a major success and certified gold in the USA. Since then the band has lit a fiery trail of touring, playing the main stage of nearly every big rock music festival in existence, gaining them over 3 million album sales worldwide. Bullet For My Valentine now unleash their much anticipated fourth studio album entitled Temper Temper.
Tuck opens the 14 track thrill ride with a raw, ear catching scream surrounded by an assault of heavy guitars, drums, and bass on “Breaking Point”. Comparatively speaking, this track sounds a bit commercial in sound until about a minute and a half left and Tuck’s vocals go from a whisper to rage with a string of face melting notes coming from Padge’s guitar that sounds like something straight up out of the dungeons of Dragonforce, invading your eardrums. “Truth Hurts” is simply an addictive track with a chorus that repeats in your head long after your radio turns off. This song lyrically, vocally, and musically may quite possibly be the best on the album. The track slows down and picks up when it needs to with simple lyrics that speak something we can all relate to.
The title track “Temper Temper“, gave excited fans a taste of the new album almost a year before its release as a single and music video. Considering it is the title track you would expect an entirely more aggressive vocally than it is. With a chorus of “Temper Temper time to explode, feels good when I lose control”, one would expect a lot of hardcore, blood pumping screaming but Tuck decides to go a different route. “P.O.W.” is the third single off of the album and has a 30 Seconds To Mars rock anthem sound, showing the band’s diversity. On tracks like “Dirty Little Secret” the band goes more primal in their approach, and then on “Leech” they take on an Escape The Fate style, giving fans a rocking feast of tracks which sound unlike each other.
With songs like “Riot” you can draw the conclusion that not one song maintains a consistent flow which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This quality actually prevents the album from becoming boring. Lyrically, this is a playful song with some notable bass lines from James, taking you on a little mini rioting journey which is fitting to the title. Continuing the reign of diversion is the sequel to “Tears Don’t Fall” off The Poison with “Tears Don’t Fall (Pt.2)”. The sequel track is not quite as hard as Pt.1, but it does however convey the same story line making for an interesting follow-up.
If you have the means to pick up the deluxe edition of the album a bonus is the live version “Scream Aim Fire”, a nice little blast from the past. Temper Temper is a decent attempt of experimenting with a more accessible hard rock sound. Regardless of being mainstream or not, Bullet For My Valentine continues to forge ahead after being in the business for 15 years and they show no sign of stopping anytime soon. CrypticRock gives Temper Temper 3 out of 5 stars.
- RCA Records
Written by That Rock Chick
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