THE SLAYLIST
Bullet For My Valentine’s frontman cranks up the 10 songs that put him on the path to metal greatness
“I WAS INTO metal bands when I was a teenager, but when I discovered PANTERA there was nothing else like it. A New Level was like a kick in the nuts. Vulgar Display Of Power is my favourite record by Pantera by a mile; the production, the songwriting, the aggression, Dimebag’s shredding… what’s not to love?
“SEPULTURA were one of the first proper metal bands I saw live – Ihave a real affinity and attachment to that band. I’d seen bands before them like Metallica and hard rock stuff, but this was my first no-holds-barred metal show in Newport Centre in Wales. Roots was a real discovery album for me – the production is so dirty you want to wash your ears out after it. They were coming off the back of a lot more thrash metal-oriented stuff, but stuff like Cut-Throat is pure downtuned nastiness and nothing compared to it.
“I discovered LIMP BIZKIT around the time of Three Dollar Bill, Y’all – they were supporting Korn at the Newport Centre. I was finally able to go to shows with my mates and we had no idea who they were, but two or three songs in they played Counterfeit and it was like, ‘This is so fucking cool’ – party vibes, but heavy metal. It even took some of the shine off Korn for me – how do you follow something like that?
“SLIPKNOT’s debut album is great. Very raw, visceral and intense. As soon as I heard it, it was like a punch in the face. Everything else I listened to was more polished and traditional, so having something like Scissors really changed how I felt about metal. It’s horrible, in the best possible way.
“I remember hearing KORN’s Daddy for the first time and I didn’t get it at all. That whole downtuned seven-string guitar thing with these insane vocals where Jonathan Davis is basically breaking down in the booth. It was so dangerous and raw, but for 14-year-old me I couldn’t understand it and it wasn’t until I got older that I realised just how amazing that album is. It still stands the test of time.
“METALLICA’s The Black Album is the reason why I’m in a band. The whole album is iconic and very down-tempo; there’s no real moments of speed but Holier Than Thou is the one track that really takes it back to what they’d been doing on …And J
