Fever

With Fever Bullet For My Valentine deliver a third studio album taut with emotional tension and more complex song arrangements. Frontman Matthew Tuck was challenged to write both melody and lyrics at the same time, and producer Don Gilmore inspired Tuck to rewrite the melodies and lyrics (sometimes up to five times) on the songs he felt needed something stronger. And the proof is in the pounding, as opening cut “Your Betrayal” releases a slew of fast, punching rhythms before six-string staccato riffs let loose like machine-gun fire. Tuck’s vocals sound especially clean and prominent here, having resolved the throat complications that hindered his singing somewhat on the preceding album Scream Aim Fire. The moody ballad “A Place Where You Belong” finds him screaming with more authority than ever before, but it’s his confident mid-range vocal prowess that really stands out and shines. Similarly, “Bittersweet Memories” reveals that this Welsh metalcore quartet aren’t afraid to work on their ballads as much (if not more) than the harder stuff.