“The music is fresh, it's aggressive, it's more visceral and passionate than it's ever been,” enthuses frontman Matt Tuck
(Image credit: Press)
Bullet For My Valentine have announced their self-titled seventh studio album, sharing its first – and decidedly heavy – debut single, Knives.
While the Bridgend quartet have explored vast musical territory over the course of their decades-spanning tenure – from metal masterclass debut album The Poison to most recent, poppier-tinged effort Gravity – this new cut is one for the purists.
Kicking off with a monster open-string riff delivered by guitarists Matt Tuck and Michael “Padge” Paget, the track demonstrates a change in stylistic direction for BFMV, in which they appear to be incorporating a more metalcore-driven approach.
And it seems there's more where that came from, as Bullet For My Valentine is being described as “easily their heaviest, fiercest album so far”.
“This is the beginning of Bullet 2.0,” explains Tuck. “It signifies where we are right now. The music is fresh, it's aggressive, it's more visceral and passionate than it's ever been.”
“I think it's the most ferocious side of Bullet For My Valentine that I've ever known,” says lead guitarist Michael “Padge” Paget. “It's time for us to put out a really angry, heavy, aggressive record. I just can't wait to grimace on stage!”
“I wanted to come out guns blazing, fucking middle fingers flying, and just go for the throat,” agrees Tuck. “I think this is a far more aggressive, intense part of Bullet For My Valentine. It's always been there. I've just never opened the floodgates on it. I want to take people's heads off in a metaphorical way.”
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The new album arrives October 22 via Spinefarm/Search & Destroy, with preorders available now. In the meantime, the band are set to headline the historic Download Festival Pilot at Donington Park in the UK on June 20.
In other BFMV news, the band recently announced Army of Noise, a Patreon-based fanclub which offers access to perks and exclusive Bullet-related content.
Check out the full tracklisting for Bullet For My Valentine below:
Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.
