| BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE‘s epochal debut album The Poison truly solidified the band’s status as modern British metal frontrunners. But, the scene was set and foundations were laid by their exploratory early recordings, unearthed publicly in 2004’s EP Hand Of Blood. An unparalleled and enduring career has since followed and, in doing so, the group changed the landscape and supercharged the trajectory of alternative music. Today, the band have revealed that the Hand Of Blood EP will be reissued as a standalone release, paying homage to the early spark in their career that has now become a roaring flame. “I honestly can’t believe it’s been twenty years since the release of The Poison and Hand Of Blood, and what an incredible twenty years its been,” says frontman Matt Tuck. “I feel so proud of what we’ve achieved as a band in the last two decades and it all started with those recordings.” Their meteoric rise saw The Poison hit #21 in the UK album charts, becoming a late contender in end of year polls, placing at #7 on Kerrang!’s ‘Albums of The Year’ list, and since achieving gold status. An album still boasting enduring impact, Metal Hammer listed the album in the Top 25 in their ‘The Greatest Metal Albums Of The Century’ feature. Twenty years on, the band have proven their music has definitively stood the test of time. Joining forces with Trivium, who were also celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut album Ascendancy, the bands launched ‘The Poisoned Ascendancy Tour’. Honouring the legacy that these groundbreaking and influential albums paved for them, the tour took both bands all over the globe to some of the world’s most prestigious venues, including a colossal and breathtaking sold out show at London’s O2 Arena. |
