Venom (Bullet for My Valentine album)

Venom
Studio album by Bullet for My Valentine
Released	14 August 2015
Recorded	Late 2013 – May 2015 at Metropolis Studios, London, England[1][2]
Genre	Thrash metal, metalcore, heavy metal
Length	41:07
Label	RCA Records[3]
Producer	Colin Richardson, Carl Bown[3]
Bullet for My Valentine chronology
Temper Temper (2013) Venom (2015) Deluxe Edition
Singles from Venom
"Raising Hell" Released: 18 November 2013 "No Way Out" Released: 18 May 2015 "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)" Released: 29 June 2015 "Army Of Noise" Released: 17 July 2015 "Venom" Released: 16 October 2015 "Worthless" Released: 8 February 2016

Venom is the fifth studio album by the Welsh metalcore band Bullet for My Valentine, released on 14 August 2015. It is the first album by the band since the departure of bassist Jason "Jay" James, which was announced in February 2015 while the band was recording the album.^[4] Jamie Mathias was announced as his replacement on 18 May 2015, along with the album's title, release date and release of the album's first single, "No Way Out".^[5]

"No Way Out" and "Broken" were premiered live during the band's headlining performance at the Camden Rocks Festival in London on 30 May 2015. The second and third singles, "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)" and "Army of Noise", were released on 29 June and 17 July 2015, respectively. Another two songs, "Playing God" and "Worthless" were released respectively on 10 August and 13 August 2015. The whole album was made available for streaming on YouTube on 14 August 2015.

Musical style

Venom marks a return to metalcore and thrash metal sounds like on The Poison and Scream Aim Fire. Talking about the album's sound, frontman Matt Tuck said that the band wanted to go back to their roots and write heavier music again.^[6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	58/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[8]
DIY	[9]
Exclaim!	[10]
The Guardian	[11]
NME	[12]
Sputnikmusic	[13]
Metal Hammer	[14]
Kerrang!
Evening Standard	[15]

Venom received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 58/100 based on 8 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[7] British magazine Kerrang! awarded the album 4 stars, saying that "Venom has injected a whole new life into the British metal heroes." Alternative Press and AllMusic both gave the album 3.5 stars.^[8] However, a negative review came from Bradley Zorgdrager of Exclaim! who gave the album a 3 out of 10. The critic wrote that "the lack of quality choruses leaves something to be desired. While their heaviest output won't win over any elitists, fans will also have trouble finding something here to sing along to."^[10]

The album was included at number 37 on Rock Sound's top 50 releases of 2015 list.^[16]

Track listing

Standard edition
No.	Title	Length
1.	"V"	1:26
2.	"No Way Out"	3:53
3.	"Army Of Noise"	4:18
4.	"Worthless"	3:18
5.	"You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)"	4:14
6.	"Broken"	3:39
7.	"Venom"	3:54
8.	"The Harder the Heart (The Harder It Breaks)"	4:00
9.	"Skin"	3:59
10.	"Hell or High Water"	4:36
11.	"Pariah"	3:46
Total length:		41:07

Deluxe Edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Playing God"	3:52
13.	"Run for Your Life"	3:34
14.	"In Loving Memory" (Demo version)	4:02
15.	"Raising Hell"	4:35
Total length:		57:08

Japanese bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
16.	"Live Medley" "Hand of Blood" "Room 409" "Hearts Burst into Fire" "Begging for Mercy" "Riot" (Live at Wembley Arena, London, on 5th December 2013)	5:10
17.	"4 Words (To Choke Upon)" (Live at Wembley Arena, London, on 5th December 2013)	3:57
18.	"Raising Hell" (Live at Wembley Arena, London, on 5th December 2013)	4:38
Total length:		70:51

German and Best Buy bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
16.	"Ace of Spades" (Motörhead Cover)	2:33
17.	"Scream Aim Fire" (Live at Wembley Arena, London, on 5th December 2013)	5:27

Google Play bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Your Betrayal" (Live from Kingston)	5:02
13.	"Army of Noise" (Live from Kingston)	4:28
14.	"The Last Fight" (Live from Kingston)	4:32
15.	"Tears Don't Fall" (Live from Kingston)	6:17
16.	"Waking the Demon" (Live from Kingston)	5:22
17.	"Worthless" (Live from Kingston)	3:30

Personnel

Bullet for My Valentine

• Matt Tuck - lead vocals, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, production on "Raising Hell"
• Michael "Padge" Paget - lead guitar, additional vocals on "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)", production on "Ace of Spades"
• Michael "Moose" Thomas - drums, additional vocals on "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)"
• Jamie Mathias - bass guitar, backing vocals (He is credited as a member of the band but, actually, Tuck recorded the bass guitar. Jamie said in an interview that he hopes "to be involved in future band projects.") ^[17][18]

Additional personnel

• Jason "Jay" James - bass guitar, backing vocals on all Japan and Best Buy live bonus tracks
• Colin Richardson - production, mixing
• Carl Bown - production, mixing, additional vocals on "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)"
• Jim Pinder - additional engineering
• Josh Gilbert - co-production on tracks 8 & 9
• Shane Blay - co-production on tracks 8 & 9
• Alex Robinson - co-mixing, vocals recording on "Ace of Spades"
• Ted Jensen - mastering
• Dan Brown - additional vocals on "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)"
• Austin Dickinson - additional vocals on "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)"
• Ryan Richards - additional vocals on "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)"
• Stefan Whiting - additional vocals on "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)"
• Jack Vallier - additional vocals on "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)"
• Henry Boeree - additional vocals on "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)"
• Rebekah Power - additional vocals on "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)"
• Emma Gorman - additional vocals on "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)"
• Lauren Metccalf - additional vocals on "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)"
• Alice Williams - additional vocals on "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)"
• Andrew Humphries - additional vocals on "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)"
• Ginnie Breakwell - additional vocals on "You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)"
• Martyn "Ginge" Ford - production, mixing on "In Loving Memory (Demo Version)", engineering on "Raising Hell"
• Romesh Dodangoda - mixing on "Ace of Spades" and "Scream Aim Fire (Live at Wembley Arena, London, on 5th December 2013)"

Charts

Chart (2015)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[19]	1
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[20]	2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[21]	25
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[22]	33
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[23]	24
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[24]	4
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25]	2
Irish Albums (IRMA)[26]	26
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[27]	9
New Zealand Albums (Recorded Music NZ)[28]	8
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[29]	46
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[30]	1
UK Albums (OCC)[31]	3
US Billboard 200[32]	8
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[33]	1

References

Citations

1. "BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE Begins Recording Fifth Album". Blabbermouth. February 1, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
2. "Bullet for My Valentine Promotes Fifth Album in a New Teaser; New record to release in summer". Venture Capital Post. May 7, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
3. "BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE's MATT TUCK: 'We've Reinvented Who We Are' On 'Venom' Album". Blabbermouth. May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
4. "BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE Parts Ways With Bassist JASON JAMES". Blabbermouth. February 9, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
5. Zadrozny, Anya (May 18, 2015). "Bullet for My Valentine Unveil New Bassist, New Song and New Album Details". Loudwire. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
6. http://loudwire.com/bullet-for-my-valentine-matt-tuck-venom-strongest-album-weve-done/
7. "Bullet For My Valentine – Venom: Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
8. http://www.allmusic.com/album/venom-mw0002860067
9. http://diymag.com/2015/08/14/bullet-for-my-valentine-album-review
10. http://exclaim.ca/Music/article/bullet_for_my_valentine-venom
11. http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/aug/13/bullet-for-my-valentine-venom-review
12. http://www.nme.com/reviews/bullet-for-my-valentine/16195
13. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/68163/Bullet-for-My-Valentine-Venom/
14. https://metalhammer.teamrock.com/reviews/2015-07-21/bullet-for-my-valentine-venom
15. http://www.standard.co.uk/stayingin/music/bullet-for-my-valentine-venom-album-review-they-sound-rejuvenated-a2633491.html
16. Bird, ed. 2016, p. 24
17. http://www.wacken.com/de/bands/bands-billing/detail/bullet-for-my-valentine-2016/
18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5xP4l5Z_Ug
19. "Australiancharts.com – Bullet for My Valentine – Venom". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
20. "Austriancharts.at – Bullet for My Valentine – Venom" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
21. "Ultratop.be – Bullet for My Valentine – Venom" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
22. "Ultratop.be – Bullet for My Valentine – Venom" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
23. "Dutchcharts.nl – Bullet for My Valentine – Venom" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
24. "Bullet for My Valentine: Venom" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
25. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
26. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 34, 2015". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
27. "Bullet for My Valentine – Venom". oricn ME inc. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
28. "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". 24 August 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
29. "Swedishcharts.com – Bullet for My Valentine – Venom". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
30. "Swisscharts.com – Bullet for My Valentine – Venom". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
31. "Bullet for My Valentine | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved 21 August 2015.
32. "Bullet for My Valentine – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Bullet for My Valentine. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
33. "Bullet for My Valentine – Chart history" Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums for Bullet for My Valentine. Retrieved 24 August 2015.

Sources

• Bird, Ryan, ed. (January 2016). "Top 50 Releases of the Year". Rock Sound (London: Freeway Press Inc.) (208). ISSN 1465-0185.