Single Slam – Over It by Bullet For My Valentine (Gravity)

Bullet for My Valentine are due to release their 6th studio album on the 29th of June this year. To go with that announcement the Welsh metalcore/hard rock band also released their first single, called Over It.

Over It is the first bit of music released since a single called Don’t Need You back in 2016 and prior to that, 2015’s album Venom. For fans of the band, and there are plenty of you, that is quite the wait. A few member departures in 2015/2017 held the band up a bit but they are back with a their complete line-up and a new record deal with Spinefarm.

Bullet For My Valentine, in 2018 are original members Matthew Tuck on main vocals and guitars with Michael Paget also on guitars and adding backing vocals. Jamie Mathias is on the bass, having replaced Jason James in 2015. Finally, the newest addition is Jason Bowld on the drums. He replaced Michael Thomas in 2017.

Over It isn’t too far short of 4 minutes long in total. I have to admit to going into it with a little nervousness as I am not much of a fan of these guys normally. I have never been too fond of their clean, polished sound. Never really enjoyed what I saw as emo tinted kiddy metal on their bigger radio hits. Not being a big fan means I don’t really know too much of their music outside of the “hits” and if I ever hear “Tears Don’t Fall” again, I am liable to do something regrettable. That isn’t their fault really. There could be a ton of raw and heavy sounding metal tracks on their albums that I have missed completely because of my dislike for a few songs. I am going into this one with as open a mind as I can muster.

That is helped greatly by the intro to Over It which has a bit of meat to it. Other than an out of place beeping in the background, which actually sounds a little like someone whistling but they aren’t very good at it. Aside from that, there is a polished but powerful sounding bass line, catchy drums with chugging guitars. As all the instruments kick in, it becomes even more enjoyable as it basically just carries on but hits the volume up to 11. I’m interested up to this point but quickly it starts dawning on me that Bullet for My Valentine haven’t really changed that much from my vague memories.

The first verse is cleanly delivered. Not quite sung, almost spoken. That is fine but the guitars are now in the background and the sampling/whistling is at the forefront. Other than that same loose styled drum beat which is pretty neat, I am not a fan of this section. Clean verse follows clean verse, interrupted for a few bars of the heavier riff. The chorus comes in and it is catchy enough as the guitars take the forefront again. The second part of the song follows an almost identical pattern though this time we do get one verse of powerful, rough vocals. Combined with the heavy riff, it sounds punchy and meaty. It is gone quickly though and we are back to the cleans as the chorus is repeated time and time again.

There isn’t really an instrumental section. There isn’t a breakdown of any size to really notice. We do get a quit section with whispered vocals and the electronic sample back at the forefront before we hit chorus through to the end as Tuck regularly informs us that “He is over it”.

Well, it all started so good but quickly went down hill. Over It isn’t a bad song, exactly. It has catchy moments. If you are a fan of these guys you will probably love it because it sounds exactly like what you normally get. For me, I was hoping for something different. An evolved sound, maybe. I didn’t get it and I don’t get it. Bullet For My Valentine continue to produce over commercialised music for the mainstream as far as I am concerned. Still, it is just one song from the new album so I will wait to check out more before I give up on it completely.

You can check out Over It on Bullet’s YouTube page here. It is also available now on all the usual streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. There is no word on preorders for Gravity just yet. In the meantime you can pick up this single and more from the band at the Amazon links below. Find out more, and stay up to date, on their website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Be sure to give them a like and follow while you are there.

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