Valentine's poisonous debut

Aside from a rather laughably cliché name, Trustkill Records' newest metallic sons Bullet for My Valentine have dropped a debut that could begin carving a name for themselves. Hailing from the UK and as their bio states, influenced early on by "worshipping the likes of Metallica, Testament and the almighty Iron Maiden," BFMV wear all these influences on their sleeves. They aren't anywhere near original, but at least they're not trying to deceive anyone. \nThirteen songs long, The Poison is BFMV's entrance into an arena already overcrowded by every band who thinks that all they need is a bunch of catchy melodic riffs and a few breakdowns to get a record deal. With a soothing intro thanks to Apocalyptica, the disc explodes with "Her Voice Resides," a track so steeped in guitar melodies, pounding drumming and overall top quality production value that it makes Atreyu's Suicide Notes & Butterfly Kisses seem like a joke. (Add in "4 Words (to Choke Upon)" with its catchy bridges and energetic soloing section, and they would have an album that opens up strong, going straight for the throat.) \n"Tears Don't Fall" makes BFMV seem a bit out of their element. Easily comparable to UK act Funeral For A Friend, the song sounds more like a cut that they kindly let BFMV borrow to show they had a softer side. At almost six-minutes the song drags on in areas, although I won't knock the wonderful mid-section full of thrash homage and galloping bass drum rolls. Unfortunately, the album drags on more in the case of "Suffering Under the Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do?)" and "Hit the Floor" -- the former for just going nowhere and the latter I swear they steal a riff from American powerhouse Shadows Fall. \n"All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)" is the kind of radio-friendly crap that I'd rather skip over than put up with. Cliché acoustic guitar patterns, predictable pedal effects and having everyone in the band sing therefore layering the vocal track equals weak execution. Testament and Iron Maiden didn't care about being radio-friendly, why should BFMV?\nWhere "Hand of Blood" comes from I have no idea, but it makes the entire lackluster mid-section fade from my memory. Drummer Michael Thomas is a machine on the track, hitting the kit so hard I'd love to see how many dents he leaves after playing on new skins and cymbals. The same goes for "Room 409" which must get the Brit kids moving in the pit. \nThe band owes their killer sound to Colin Richardson, a man who is a mastermind behind the board. Having produced the likes of UK grind merchants Carcass and Napalm Death, mid-90s masterpieces such as Machine Head's The More Things Change and Fear Factory's Demanufacture, Richardson happily adds BFMV to his list of recent clients ranging from Funeral For A Friend to 3 Inches of Blood and God Forbid. \nBFMV has entered the arena, conquered a few lions and got the audience's attention. Plenty more challengers await and BFMV have a ways to go if they want to become champions.