Bullet for My Valentine

Easily the second-best band to come out of the UK with the words "my" and "valentine" in its name, Bullet for My Valentine is a four-piece Welsh outfit with a hard-on for both '80s speed/thrash metal and the quasi-sensitive sensibilities of the current emo-screamo zeitgeist — an approach that's earned the band both Warped Tour spots and chances to open for Guns N' Roses and Iron Maiden. BFMV's biggest hit, "Tears Don't Fall" (from the recent The Poison), sums things up nicely: Frontman Matt Tuck, alternating between croons and death-howls, delivers traumatized lines such as "Would she hold me if she knew my shame?"; guitarist Michael Paget drops in some Hammett-like solos; and Michael Thomas works the double bass-drum pedals like a junior Lars Ulrich. The whole thing comes together in a soaring, melodic chorus straight out of a Taking Back Sunday production.