''The Poison'' is the debut studio album by Welsh heavy metal band Bullet for My Valentine. The album was released on 3 October 2005 through Visible Noise Records in the UK, and on 14 February 2006 in the United States, through

Trustkill Records Trustkill Records was an American independent record label that started as a hardcore punk fanzine in April 1993. It started releasing hardcore, metal and rock records and merchandise in 1994. In 2010, the president of Trustkill, Josh Grabelle ...

. The album included 11 new songs and two previously heard songs, "Cries in Vain", which was previously heard from the band's self-titled UK EP and from their US EP, ''

Hand of Blood ''Hand of Blood'' is the second EP by Welsh heavy metal band Bullet for My Valentine, released on 22 August 2005 through Trustkill Records. The EP is almost the same as the previous, but with completely different artwork and slightly altered ...

'', as well as from "4 Words (To Choke Upon)" was previously included on the same US release. Different editions of the album contain the song "Hand of Blood", previously heard from these EPs, replacing "Spit You Out". The album debuted at number 128 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 2 on the Heatseekers Chart, and as of 30 January 2018, the album has sold 1,600,000 copies worldwide and 500,000 copies in the US. It is the band's most commercially successful effort in the United States, earning a gold certification by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) in addition to a gold certification from the band's native

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

(BPI).

Reception

Corey Apar of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

awarded the album 3 stars out of 5, commenting that the album showed a "

melodic metal Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a ...

-meets-

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

aesthetic" peppered with "powerful riffs and classic metal". Apar concluded that the album "is a well-produced, solid effort – but seeing as they're now trying to take over American hearts, it would be nice to see future attempts to distinguish themselves more from the new-school pack."

Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...

also gave the album a 3 out of 5 with the explanation that it is "fun to listen to, and the guitar work sure is nice. The vocals are good as well, as main singer has a good voice, melodic and screamed, well supported by the screaming of the bassist." Music Emissions said the album contained very catchy songs, with clean and fast guitar sounds, and "an undertone of pop" which fits with the drumming. Despite its positive points, the reviewer said that the album would not attract people from outside the metalcore subgenre. ''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

'' gave the album a C− (below average) and said that ''The Poison'' album appeared to be made for provincial 15-year-olds to get violent with each other. The reviewer noted two songs that were indicative of the band's "A-game": "The Poison" and " Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)". Punknews.org wrote that the album was "drab", leaving the reviewer bored with the slow pace, and frustrated that the screaming loud passages were delivered without a sense of anger or attitude.

Track listing

Personnel

;Bullet for My Valentine *

Matthew Tuck Matthew Tuck (born 20 January 1980) is a Welsh musician, best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the metal band Bullet for My Valentine. He is also a singer and guitarist in the Supergroup (music), supergroup AxeWound, which was ...

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar, additional lead guitar, bass (uncredited) * Michael "Padge" Paget – lead guitar, backing vocals * Jason "Jay" James – bass (credited but doesn't perform), backing vocals * Michael "Moose" Thomas – drums, percussion ;Additional musicians *

Eicca Toppinen Eino Matti "Eicca" Toppinen (born 5 August 1975) is a Finnish cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four str ...

– arrangement (on "Intro") *

Apocalyptica Apocalyptica is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Helsinki, formed in 1993. The band is composed of classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilaakso, and jazz drummer Mikko Sirén. Originally a classical ...

– cellos (on "Intro") ;Production details * All lyrics by Matt Tuck * All music by Bullet for My Valentine **Except "Intro" cellos by

, arrangement by Eicca Toppinen **Except "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" by

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

*Published by Harmageddon Publishing Ltd / Universal Music Publishing SAS * All tracks produced & mixed by

Colin Richardson Colin Richardson is a British record producer, mixer and recording engineer. He has worked on over 100 albums and is most frequently associated with heavy metal and its subgenres. Career Some of the bands he has worked for include: * 3 In ...

**Except "Hit the Floor" produced & mixed by Colin Richardson &

Andy Sneap Andy Sneap (born 18 July 1969) is an English guitarist, record producer and composer with over 100 albums to his name, most of which have been produced at his Backstage Recording studios in rural Derbyshire. Some of the most critically acclaime ...

* All tracks mixed at The Chapel, Lincolnshire **Except "4 Words (To Choke Upon)" mixed at The Sonic Ranch,

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

**Except "Hit the Floor" mixed at Backstage Studios, Derbyshire * Engineered by Dan Turner * Engineering assistance by Will Bartle, Matt Hyde & Justin Leigh * Recorded at The Chapel (Lincolnshire), Backstage Studios (Derbyshire), Notting Pill Studios ( Newport) & SUSI Studios (Finland) * A&R – Martin Dodd * A&R UK – Julie Weir * Worldwide management – Paul Craig at Supervision Management Ltd * Agent – Paul Ryan at The Agency Group (excluding US) * Artwork by S2 at laboca.co.uk * Video footage filmed and edited by Dan Fernbach at Static Films * Band photographs by Patrick Ford

Charts

Singles

Album

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poison, The 2005 debut albums Bullet for My Valentine albums Trustkill Records albums Visible Noise albums Metalcore albums by Welsh artists