One of Britain’s premiere heavy metal outfits, Bullet For My Valentine have more than earned their place in the halls of the 21st century pantheon of rock gods. Touring with Metallica, Iron Maiden and Slayer, BFMV merged classic rock archetypes with a more modern melodic sensibility, paving the way for a new generation of acts.
We spoke to the band’s chief vocalist Matt Tuck and lead guitarist Michael ‘Padge’ Paget back in 2018, on the heels of their sixth LP Gravity. We dug deep into the genesis of their coruscating sound, and how they shifted their stylistic approach to make this more radio-leaning record.
“[Gravity] is a lot more simple and foundation-based, rather than the crazy riffs and solos and technical stuff, which we’ve done to death,” Matt told us. “It ended up being an enjoyable process tracking the guitars, rather than a stressful one.
“Being a guitar nerd you really want to get into nuances and put your own identity into it all. But that brings stresses, so this time round a lot of it was more straightforward chords and riffs and clean patterns. It was much more relaxed way of recording guitars.”
Tuck also explained how the band didn’t overdo the layering of the guitars for the album;
“There’s one on the left and one on the right, that’s it! We didn’t double-track anything. I think [third album] Fever was the last time we quadded the guitars up, with two on two one side and then the same on the other.
“On [2013 album] Temper Temper we decided to put less in, which in a weird way – depending on the song – makes it actually sound bigger. Plus the process is twice as quick; it’s only half the work!”
As the two last remaining original members of the band, Tuck and Paget reflected on their enduring chemistry…
“It probably comes from the time we’ve spent together. I’m a keen watcher! All the years we’ve been together means we know each other well,” said Padge. “We filmed a playthrough video in New York the other day, just the two of us without the band, and it blew me away when I heard how f**kin’ tight we were. Without nothing else going on around, we were both just hearing guitars – it’s quite magical whenever it sinks in.”
Matt added, “It’s the time and effort we’ve put into this career and this band. We kinda have the same job technically – that only adds to the yin and yang thing. We’ve both progressed massively over the years; we both want what’s best for the song rather than the individual.”
One of our final questions to the pair related to the guitar tones they personally felt were the most iconic of all time. For Matt, there was only one answer: the tone of the late Pantera legend Dimebag Darrell on one of metal gods' most celebrated records.
“The most iconic guitar tone of all-time for me is on Pantera’s Vulgar Display Of Power. It’s just crushing… though not a regular sounding tone, it’s very honky and scooped. The lead tones that Dimebag had on that album were beautiful and so individual. No-one else sounded like that, which made him very rare.
“Players don’t usually have that much identity. You could give someone else his guitar through his amp and it would sound like dogs**t – a lot of it was in the hands. That’s the holy grail of guitar playing… identity over anything else.”
Read our full 2018 interview with Bullet For My Valentine here.
