Bullet 4 My Valentine is like the perfect storm when they hit the stage giving off the old classic metal sound.

Tonight just feels right for some kickass heavy metal. Since I saw Bullet 4 My Valentine blast their way on the Hammerstein stage before some GNR warmup shows a few years back, I’ve become a big fan of theirs.

They have a throwback heavy metal sound emulating Metallica and other old metal bands when it was owning back in the 1980’s. No doubt these British dudes can rock the house down. Lead singer Matthew “Matt” Tuck also doubles on rhythm guitar and just brings it. The guy is an animal who has great stage presence. In 1998 while studying at Bridgend College, he along with lead guitarist Michael “Padge” Paget and drummer Michael “Moose” Thomas formed a band called Jeff Killed John. Along with original bassist Nick Crandle, they originally patterned themselves after popular nu metal bands Korn and Limp Bizkit. However, that soon changed along with the band name to Bullet 4 My Valentine. Crandle departed and was replaced by Jason “Jay” James on bass.

After playing some local gigs, they signed with Sony and released a five track self-titled EP in late November, 2004. A second EP called Hand of Blood came out in late August, 2005 in the United States. That included a bonus track “4 Words (To Choke Upon),” which also would be on their debut album The Poison later that year in the UK and in early February 2006 in The States. A few months later, they came on for GNR and got more exposure to mixed reviews. Not everyone dug the sound because it was so loud- seemingly from a different Era. But I could tell right away these guys were talented and would become bigger. Soon, I discovered they had some stuff on EA Sports Madden 2006 and NHL 2006.

The band released their second album Scream Aim Fire late 2007, early 2008. It had excellent success reaching No.4 on the Billboard. They’ll soon be releasing a third album later this year. In the mean time, I figured we’d take a look at some of their best to date. Not all their videos are available but I’ll link up a few.

“Tears Don’t Fall” totally kicks ass. The first time I heard it, I knew it’d be a big hit. Pretty cool video too if we may say with perfect dark black and white and lots of rain coming down like a storm which is kinda symbolic of how hard they play.

“All These Things I Hate” is another great song to just kick back and rock out to. And hey. We even got a live version here. And boy does it sound good. The dark red lighting is perfect for what’s being said here. Such emotion.

“Suffocating Under Words Of Sorrow” is another emotional song expressing his pain. Once again, there’s a great solo in the middle that really lays it all out there. That’s what makes these guys so great. Pure energy.

This the first time we’ve heard “Hand of Blood” and boy is it classic Bullet. A bit of a different scene. Love the blue lighting. Padge really shines in this with some extra loud vocals meshing well with Matt.

“4 Words (To Choke Upon)” was one of the first songs they played at the GNR shows in NYC. The guitar and drumming leading into an explosive lead are awesome. They seem to know when to turn it on.

“Waking The Demon” is definitely one of their best to date. And man, does the video rock. The girl in it is a total babe. Plus there’s total chaos. Love the whole school locker scene mixed in with them playing loud outside in the woods. Just looks so cool. Love the calendar countdown. It really works.

“Scream Aim Fire“- the aforementioned self-titled second album starts out like a house of fire and doesn’t let up. It’s also played at just the right tempo where you’re really able to hear what Matt’s saying. Yep. This song puts them “Over The Top!”

“Hearts Burst Into Fire” is awesome. It gives you a little different perspective into the band and is sang in a different tone with Matt really driving his points home. They show a lot of what goes into being successful. So many amazing different shots. The lower key really works and hey. It’s a little longer. They way they ended this video is perfect. Gives ya that live vibe.

Let’s take a look at one more:

More dark shots with plenty of close ups of Matt belting out the lyrics. Some good crowd shots work too. The best part of this song is the middle where he does a solo and really changes the tempo. It’s played with tremendous energy.

Energy. The perfect word to describe Bullet. When are they coming back to the Big Apple? I’m getting tix.