Two years after crashing into the US Billboard charts at number 4 with the album Scream, Aim, Fire, Welsh four piece Bullet For My Valentine returned with their third album, Fever, produced by Don Gilmore (Linkin Park) and mixed by Chris Lord Alge. The band - vocalist/guitarist Matt Tuck, guitarist Michael Paget, bassist Jason James and drummer Michael Thomas - recorded Fever in studios both in their native Wales and in Los Angeles. The guys were named Kerrang! Best British Band in both 2008 and 2009 (after winning best newcomer in 2006) and have supported legendary acts such as Metallica, Guns n Roses and Iron Maiden and now they step up to arena level…

B4MV vocalist Matt Tuck seems genuinly touched, suprised and in awe of the fact that in front of him is an arena crowd and his band is the headliner, it’s almost as if the shock of that fact has yet to sink in, and one can only guess that it’s only as you stand in front of a crowd this size that it would… Make no mistake B4MV are a great live band, rightful heirs to the arena metal crown. It’s handed to them on their third album, Maiden hit that place after their 3rd Number Of The Beast, so they are in good if not hallowed company…

Do they pull it off, does a bear shit in the woods? The set is paced well enough that the crowd never gets out of sight (it is however not a long set) but tracks from their current album ‘Fever’ are met with more cheers than older material proving that while they have built up a great fan base, that base continues to grow and judging on the radio airplay for ‘Bittersweet Memories’ it can only continue…

There is  one major difference here mind… While Maiden and Metallica shows are very much a ‘cock-fest’ with over 80% being male, B4MV have a healthy 50/50 split between male and female and I don’t ever remember looking at this many pretty faces at a metal show… Ever! The band seem to get all the boy’s who love to ‘Scream, Aim, Fire’ and get all the girls who will love the band ‘Forever & Always’ - it’s the best of both worlds…

This makes them THE metal band of the 21st century, they can and will get even better, they will learn to project themselves even more at this level, they are the only UK metal band that has a chance of headlining Sonisphere or Download. And I for one hope that with album # 4 comes the opportunity to do just that, the band’s appetite is met by their fans, for everyone understands that tonight is what dreams are made of and out in this audience tonight is a whole new generation of dreamers… So it is said, so it shall be done… *Jj **Photo’s Danni

Album Review 2010: Bullet For My Valentine are the biggest British metal band since Iron Maiden. That’s a statement that (still) rankles the more pernickety metal fan, who continues to claim that, because BFMV focus on huge tunes (and have a penchant for syrupy ballads) rather than huge lyrics, and have meticulously straightened hair that’s more salon than sweatbox, they lack credibility. It’s just not true. They simply have more strings to their bow than the average metal band, hence their sure and steady rise to the top.

2008’s Scream Aim Fire, the band’s second long-player, went top five in both the UK and US upon release, and for its follow-up heavyweight producer Don Gilmore (Linkin Park, Avril Lavigne) has been brought in to create an album that will become ubiquitous. BFMV are aiming for world domination, and with Fever they may well achieve it.

The military drumming of Your Betrayal opens the album with infantry intensity and then some wonderfully crisp riffing gives way to Matt Tuck whispering about insanity and such. This approach is maintained throughout the rolling, pogo-friendly title-track and the fantastically frantic The Last Fight. The three make for a brilliant opening trio. Maybe as an acknowledgement of their critics, there’s only one real ballad to be found on Fever – Bittersweet Memories, with lyrics of childish despair and forlorn desire. The brightest standout is Alone, which rocks to a rampaging riff that courses all the way to its core – it’s sure to give any listener shivers, such is its magnitude.

Fever represents a significant step forward, and practically guarantees that BFMV will fulfil the expectations preceding its release. An outstanding set of songs, this collection will raise the temperatures of metal fans across the globe. - Raziq Rauf