Welsh heavy metal gods Bullet For My Valentine have become masters of their own destiny with their latest album, ‘Gravity’, entering new sonic territory that marks a definitive shift in their sound.
“When we started writing for this album I was very adamant that the time was right to do something slightly different, time to push the boundaries a little bit and incorporate new sounds,” frontman and vocalist Matt Tuck explains.
“I’m very proud of it; it’s a step in a slightly different direction but I think we’ve listened to it as songs and if you get your head into it it’s a monster, it’s [a] very fresh-sounding record.”
‘Gravity’ is Bullet For My Valentine’s sixth studio album and comes as the follow-up to their 2015 album ‘Venom’, which Matt says took the band to its limit in terms of aggressive, technical metal.
“We felt that ‘Venom’ maxed everything out. We went to town on the guitar solos, multiple solos in every song, really thrashy drum sections with a breadth of vocals,” he says.
“It felt like trying to reinvent that or redo that but make it different [on the new album] was banging our heads against a wall, there was no point. We’ve done it for five records and we wanted to make something that was a lot fresher, a lot more contemporary and something that we’d never done before.”
‘Gravity’ may also be Bullet For My Valentine’s most honest and personal record yet as it served as a vital catharsis for Matt who used the songwriting process to confront his own demons, tapping into the raw, emotional plight caused by the breakdown of his marriage.
“This time around as a songwriter I have a lot of pent-up anger, aggression and a lot of subject matter to write through,” he says.
“I’ve been going through a lot of sh*t behind-the-scenes since 2015 in my personal life. Unfortunately my marriage fell apart and I slipped into depression because of it.
"A lot of emotional turmoil comes with going through a situation like that; it’s not something I thought I would ever be in. We have a child and a life and all that felt like it was falling apart.
“The album is all about me really and about those situations: how I felt, how I was dealing with it, what I wanted to do with my life, what I didn’t want to do with my life – it touches on the depression.”
Though he admits it was one of the most difficult things he has had to do and very nearly destroyed him, writing his pain into the lyrics of the songs on ‘Gravity’ has imbued the album with a certain authenticity and resulted in their strongest material yet. “I had a lot of things to say even though I didn’t want to,” he says.
“I didn’t want to share any of the sh*t with the world; it’s my personal stuff but I felt like I actually had something meaningful and powerful to say this time around so I took the decision to write a couple of songs with that in mind.
“The more I wrote the more it kept coming out, and the more powerful and meaningful it became to me. I think the album has massively benefitted from honesty and not being afraid to speak about things.”
With the album set for release at the end June and his troubles now mostly behind him, Matt is looking towards the future with a renewed sense of endeavour. “I’m a lot better than I was now. Things seemed to have settled down a lot and everything’s cool as far as my personal stuff goes.
“There’s been a lot of up-and-down moments emotionally and I feel that the album unintentionally dragged me through a little bit, but it’s come out in a really positive way now.
“It’s something I can look back on in my life as just a moment; thankfully, I had the outlet of writing songs and that I was brave and strong enough to put myself out there. It shows a massively more tender, vulnerable side of me that I’ve never shown anyone before.
“I used this album as a massive therapy session. Things are looking good now. I still have my days where I sink into it again, which is not great, but I’ve learnt how to deal with it and be more vocal about that kind of thing.”
Although it’s something different from Bullet For My Valentine, Matt is confident ‘Gravity’ has everything fans would ever want from the band. “It’s still aggressive when it needs to be, it’s beautifully melodic when it has to be, it’s dark, it’s uplifting,” he says.
“It’s a bit of a roller-coaster ride lyrically but in my ears, I’m obviously very attached with writing it, but it’s the strongest album the band has ever produced. It’s by far the strongest songs we’ve written lyrically, thematically and socially; it’s the biggest-sounding record you’re going to hear in 2018. It’s everything it needs to be in 2018.”
As the next chapter of Bullet For My Valentine begins, they edge ever-closer to achieving true rock immortality and being considered one of the great metal acts of their time, something not far from Matt’s mind at this point of their career. “It’s always been a dream of mine to go the distance and it seems that’s going to be the case,” Matt says.
“It’s a minefield when you’re in a metal band especially, because it’s not the most loved or celebrated style of music in mainstream culture or media. So to go as far as we’ve gone and still be going and still have this massive display of love for our band is incredible.
“So I would love nothing more to have another 15 years and become one of those bands that people of all ages love and that our band becomes celebrated, heavyweight rock royalty. I would love nothing more; that’s the ultimate goal really.”
Bullet For My Valentine will be on tour for ‘Gravity’ over the coming months, including their appearance at Download Festival UK and hitting the European summer festival circuit.
As to an Australian tour, Matt lets the cat out of the bag, somewhat, as to when they’re going to be in the country to play ‘Gravity’ live. “2018. This year, yep,” he says.
“I can say no more and I do know exactly what’s going on but I can’t say anything yet, we’re not allowed. But it will be this year and I probably shouldn’t even say that, but it gets the hype going for our Australian fans,” he laughs. “It’s actually a lot sooner than anyone thinks.”
