Jive
2008
Either the world of metal is different today or I have gotten old or it's a combination of both. Twenty years or so ago it seemed like it was far easier to say what was and what was not metal and largely you either liked metal or not. Some people may have been more selective about just liking an act two, but they were normally seen as being what they were and that's casual metal fans. Okay, I need to get back to the subject at hand which is the new release from Bullet for my valentine. The masses generally seem to like this album a lot and most people seem to say that it is indeed metal. However being the old, fickle, stick in the mud metal fan that I am causes me hesitate, step back and examine what's going on here. Is this really metal? Well, surprisingly some of the top influences are metal such as early Metallica and Iron Maiden. They also tap into lesser known suspects as well such as Testament and Annihilator. The hard driving riffs are here and they possess a good grasp on executing sharp pace changes. So if it's metal then why I am having trouble embracing it? I think there are three factors that trouble me some. First is that the production is just so slick that even though the licks say metal, the overall feel is perhaps a bit more polished than I wish I was. Perhaps some people like this sound, but for myself I don't like all of the rough edges to be sanded off my metal. The next is the vocals which are perhaps more accessible than I am accustomed to from metal that is this fast. The vocals are solid enough, but perhaps more than anything I could adjust to this over time and repeated plays. The final item that troubles me is just the fact that they seem to have gotten a great deal of attention rather fast and perhaps are getting more credit that they deserve considering that they are not bringing a whole lot to the table. I think that although this is a good album that satisfies my metal needs on some levels, but I wouldn't give them any kind of crown just yet.
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