Bullet For My Valentine
Scream Aim Fire

THE REVIEW

"Our new album will be heavier and more '80s than The Poison".

And indeed, the first thing that becomes apparent when listening to the return of the Welsh Bullet For My Valentine is that the much-anticipated 'Trash' is actually present only sporadically on their latest effort "Scream Aim Fire" released today 01/28.

Several years after their previous works (the debut album "The Poison" can be considered an experiment with more results, in fact, it was divided into multiple versions with bonus tracks scattered here and there), the genre that can be attributed to the band is always the same: "Emotional Metalcore"; there is no alternative, as demonstrated by the variety of styles present in the album. Take for example the sweet "Hearts Burst Into Fire" immediately followed by the harder and 'Metallica' "Waking The Demon", without obviously overlooking the good title track "Scream, Aim, Fire" that strongly reminds one (perhaps too much) of the better-known "Master Of Puppets" by Metallica.

To make an objective judgment, the album must be listened to at least 2-3 times, and it is after these listens that the splendor of "Deliver Us From Evil" becomes noticeable, in my opinion the best track on the CD. Certainly it doesn't support the Metalcore spirit of the album, but the typically Bullet vocal blend (Vocals/Scream) interpreted by Matt Tuck in the studio, with the collaboration (especially live) of Michael Padget, is practically perfect. Not to mention the attentive drumming by Michael Thomas, always ready to accelerate in case of 'sleepiness danger'.
In the first part of the album, also notable is the excellent second single "Eye Of The Storm". I speak of the first part because, as in the previous album, even in "Scream, Aim, Fire" there is a clear separating line halfway through, indeed from the seventh track "Take It Out On Me" onwards, the album begins to dramatically fade, like "Say Goodnight", a ballad along the lines of "One", a great success of the aforementioned Hetfield & Company's band, but this time the emulation seems not to have yielded great results. It continues until closing with the tonic "Last To Know", the only positive note of the second part of the album, and with the soporific "Forever And Always", in this case as well, Metal seems to be light years away, however, the merchandising seems to be shamelessly within reach.

In conclusion 'a winning team doesn't change', the winning potion of "The Poison" still works, whether you like it or not, Emo-Metalcore is in vogue, despite the cover and the bombastic title, this album is more Emotional than Metalcore.

7 out of 10, translated into Debaser-vote it would be 3.5 therefore 3 punitive stars for the missed, but much-heralded '80s evolution. To be clear, it is not a rejection, but an invitation to take another and final step forward.