Temper Temper
The Welsh thrash group Bullet for My Valentine works with mostly modern metal inventions and is more in touch with screamo bands than Metallica. The studio-tight harmonies and perfectly notched beats have more to do with post-\'90s hard rock bands and emo-punk than the ragged-but-right free-for-alls of early thrash metal. Singer/guitarist Matthew Tuck is coming off a time out spent working with his side project Axewound. Here, he heads into *Temper Temper* determined to catch a looser ensemble in action. The title track bleeds some new tears, with guitars pulling in opposite directions until everything coalesces into a high-end riff fest for the chorus. Producer Don Gilmore (who also handled 2010\'s *Fever*) and mixing engineer supreme Chris Lord-Alge keep things slick and assured, ensuring that \"P.O.W.\" plays out like a mini-series in less than four minutes. \"Dirty Little Secret\" turns in a dynamic performance, as does \"Tears Don\'t Fall, Pt. 2.\"
On Temper Temper, the fourth studio album from Bullet for My Valentine, the Welsh thrashers return with a looser, more organic sound that feels more focused on intensity than technicality.
Bullet for My Valentine's latest album is unlikely to expand their audience beyond the sulky teen demographic, writes <strong>Dom Lawson</strong>
Bridgend metallers' fourth album is blisteringly annoyed and the better for it. CD review by Thomas H Green