BULLET FOR MY Valentine switched gears on sixth album Gravity. Swapping out supercharged ferocity for a more slickly produced, mainstream-baiting affair, it melded catchy grooves with gleaming pop-hook anthemia. Vocalist Matt Tuck predicted that fans would be “surprised” by the record; it did, after all, have one defining – and arguably un-Bullet-like in terms of their previous sonic output – characteristic in its complete omission of guitar solos across its 11 tracks. Depending on what side of the fence you were sat on, it was either fearlessly brave or decidedly foolish given the technical arsenal the guys had at their disposal.
Fast forward three years, however, and on paper the gamble appears to have paid dividends for the Welsh juggernauts, having now racked up a billion US streams of their catalogue and reinvigorating those increasingly apathetic audiences by playing their biggest shows to date, including London’s Alexandra Palace. But with Matt Tuck now chucking out bold epithets like “This is the beginning of Bullet 2.0”, and a press release teasing “a back to basics” approach, are the boys from Bridgend finally ready to prove that they’re impervious to time’s cruel hands?