The Poison


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 UK, and on 14 February 2006 in United States through Trustkill Records. 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, as well as from "4 Words " 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".
For the 20th anniversary of the album, the band released a 20th anniversary edition of the album and announced 'The Poisoned Ascendancy' Tour with Trivium that took place in 2025 with Trivium celebrating the 20th anniversary of their successful album ''Ascendancy.''

Music

The Poison makes extensive use of clean vocals, and contains elements of emo and post-hardcore. The album employs shred guitar, Gothenburg-style guitar riffs, and breakdowns.
At the time of the album's release, Corey Apar of AllMusic compared the sound on The Poison to the likes of Atreyu, Funeral for a Friend and Alexisonfire, stating that the band utilize "the glossy, melodic metal-meets-emo aesthetic, utilizing darkly romanticized lyrics that are smoothly sung and growled side-by-side". Raziq Rauf of Drowned in Sound also compared the album's sound to the early work of Atreyu. The album has also drawn comparisons to My Chemical Romance and Unearth. Loudwire said: "The Poison is the connective tissue between the worlds of Ozzfest and Warped Tour, a record that can perfectly appeal to goers of both scenes."

Commercial performance

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 internationally, earning a gold certification by both the RIAA in the United States and the band's native BPI in the United Kingdom, and a platinum certification by Bundesverband Musikindustrie in Germany.

Reception and legacy

Corey Apar of AllMusic awarded the album 3 stars out of 5, commenting that the album showed a "melodic metal-meets-emo aesthetic" peppered with "powerful riffs and classic metal". Sputnikmusic gave the album a 3.5 out of 5, saying the group offers "differing levels of hope for the metalcore genre." Music Emissions complimented the album's guitar work and hooks, but believed only fans of the metalcore genre would enjoy the album.
Stylus Magazine gave the album a C− and said that The Poison album appeared to be "made for provincial 15-year-olds to get violent with each other", citing "The Poison" and "Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow " as the album's strongest songs. Punknews.org wrote that the album was "drab", criticizing the album's pace, vocal delivery, and dynamics.
In 2023, Metal Hammer listed the album as among the greatest heavy metal albums of the 2000s. They wrote that "the intoxicating mix of raw emotion, sweeping riffs and undeniable hooks made Bullet feel like champions from the off, the defiant roar of 'Her Voice Resides' signalling that the US’s dominance of metalcore wouldn’t go as uncontested as it had for nu metal."
It was cited as the band's best album by Bryan Rolli of Loudwire in 2025. A year earlier while writing for the same publication, music jorunalist John Hill called it the best metalcore album of 2005.

Track listing

Personnel

;Bullet for My Valentine
;Additional musicians
;Production details
  • All lyrics by Matthew Tuck
  • All music by Bullet for My Valentine
  • *Except "Intro" cellos by Apocalyptica, arrangement by Eicca Toppinen
  • *Except "Welcome Home " by Metallica
  • Published by Harmageddon Publishing Ltd / Universal Music Publishing SAS
  • All tracks produced & mixed by Colin Richardson
  • *Except "Hit the Floor" produced & mixed by Colin Richardson & Andy Sneap
  • All tracks mixed at The Chapel, Lincolnshire
  • *Except "4 Words " mixed at The Sonic Ranch, El Paso, Texas
  • *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, Backstage Studios, Notting Pill Studios & SUSI Studios
  • A&R – Martin Dodd
  • A&R UK – Julie Weir
  • Worldwide management – Paul Craig at Supervision Management Ltd
  • Agent – Paul Ryan at The Agency Group
  • Artwork by S2 at laboca.co.uk
  • Video footage filmed and edited by Dan Fernbach at Static Films
  • Band photographs by Patrick Ford

    Charts

Album

Chart Peak
position
Scottish Albums 19
UK Rock & Metal Albums 2

Certifications