Slayer and Bullet For My Valentine

In this edition of Who Made Who? we're going to take a look at Welsh metalcore powerhouse Bullet For My Valentine and some of the influences that have shaped their sound. Read the article, click here and WIN their CD 'Fever'.

Anyone who knows of the late 80's/early 90's era in metal will already know the place in time and in metal where Bullet For My Valentine draws their inspiration. Bullet For My Valentine wear their heart on their sleeve lyrically and musically, via their pounding rhythms and thrash metal sound.

In a 2005 interview with UltimateGuitar.com, guitarist Michael "Padge" Padget and bassist Jason James, explain their influences are  “..all old school thrash...” and that they “…haven't bothered with any of the modern day stuff, there's just nothing that grabs our attention at all in today's music. So it's all old school bands... mainly just classic rock.” Highlighting this inspiration Bullet For My Valentine's Facebook site states that their influences include Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Slayer.

So which one of those bands are we going to look at as the chief inspiration for Bullet For My Valentine? All the bands mentioned above are all highly influential metal bands worthy of a Who Made Who? on their own, so let's use a process of elimination:

• Metallica: We'd hate to put any fans offside but these guys have just not been the same since the massive Black album. 2 words. Sold out. Anyone who disagrees needs to watch the documentary Some Kind of Monster about the making of St Anger. In our opinion (read: Mick's opinion - ed.) any band that employs a psychiatrist to be with them at all hours of the day so that they can keep in touch with their feelings, has probably lost the fire in the belly that a metal band needs to survive. So Metallica, although your early work is probably is the closest representation of the Bullet For My Valentine sound, you're off the list.
• Iron Maiden: Flying around in your own private Boeing 757 is pretty cool but not very metal. So Iron Maiden too is off the list

By default, it looks like we're going to have a closer look at the life and times of Slayer (I can't believe that Mick D just wrote off 2 of the biggest metal bands ever.....please try to be constructive with all complaints regarding same - ed.).

Time to explore the world of Slayer; a band that to this day maintains the cred that they began to establish back in the early 80’s when they were formed. They have had quite a few line up changes during the years, although the current Slayer line-up is back to the original combination of Tom Araya (bass, vocals), Kerry King (guitar), Jeff Hanneman (guitar), Dave Lombardo (drums). The bands' first major success was it’s third studio album, Reign in Blood, which their label originally refused to release due to some of the lyrical content and the cover art.

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All tracks edited as snapshots of songs.

When it was eventually released, it received virtually no radio airplay, however debuted at number 94 on the US Billboard charts and eventually was Slayer's first 'gold' status album. Since that time they have released 8 more studio albums (11 in total), with 4 receiving 'gold' status in the US, with their latest effort World Painted Blood released in 2009. Slayer continue to play live and tour the world.

For those who haven’t experienced Slayer before, the best word to describe their sound is fast. Apparently their classic Reign in Blood album is played at an average of 220 beats per minute. Their distinctive sound includes aggressive de-tuned rhythm guitars, crazy, fast solos, dramatic aural punches and hard-core double kick drum playing. Drummer Dave Lombardo uses two bass drums for his double kick drumming, rather than the usual 2 pedals on one drum, providing a more intense sound. He believes that his kicking is so fast that a single drum would not have the speed to bounce back before he smashes it on the next kick.

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All tracks edited as snapshots of songs.

Slayer’s lyrics are written by Hanneman, King & Araya, and tend to deal with all manner of evil from death, war, hell, and murder. Slayer have been accused of being xenophobes and Satanists because of their lyrics, although they maintain that they write about this stuff because they are just interested in the subjects rather than support the ideals behind them. In 1996, a lawsuit was brought against the band, by parents of a girl would had been murdered by three Slayer fans, which accused Slayer of encouraging violet acts through their music. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed with the judge advising that he did not consider Slayer's music obscene, indecent or harmful to minors. Phew.

Slayer has never experienced the commercial acceptance that Bullet for My Valentine are currently experiencing but strip away some of the layers and you can see part of the Slayer template that has shaped the Bullet For My Valentine sound.

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE'S 'THE LAST FIGHT' FROM 'FEVER' (COURTESY SONY MUSIC) - WIN THE ALBUM HERE

THE MAKING OF 'THE LAST FIGHT' (COURTESY SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT)