Bullet for My Valentine

Bullet for My Valentine are arguably the biggest metalcore band to emerge from the UK, thanks to genre classics such as the growling 2006 single “Tears Don’t Fall” and vocalist Matthew Tuck’s skill at alternating aggressive snarls with yearning hooks. The Welsh band grew out of Jeff Killed John, a late-’90s group featuring Tuck and guitarist Michael Paget that drew from both grunge and nu-metal. Bullet for My Valentine changed their name upon the decision to move into metalcore territory, two shifts that paid off with a record deal and a successful debut full-length, 2005’s The Poison. The band’s American breakthrough came in 2008 with Scream Aim Fire, which peaked in the Top 5 of the pop charts and exhibited a sleeker, riff-propelled sound, as on the speedy “Waking the Demon.” As their reputation as a ferocious live act grew, Bullet for My Valentine responded by continuing to hone a sound indebted to thrash metal (“Alone”) and ambitious hard rock (“You Want a Battle? (Here’s a War)”). However, the group never completely shed their metalcore roots: Later albums, such as 2018’s Gravity, demonstrate the kind of melodic polish and guitar heroics that first turned heads.