Bullet For My Valentine’s origins can be traced back to a band called Jeff Killed John, which was formed in 1998 by Matthew ‘Matt’ Tuck (rhythm guitar and vocals), Michael ‘Padge’ Paget (lead guitar), Nick Crandle (bass) and Michael ‘Moose’ Thomas (drums). They were studying music at Bridgend College, Wales, and played Metallica and Nirvana covers, releasing a 2 track CD in 2002, produced by Greg Haver, called “You/Play With Me”. In 2003, Jason ‘Jay’ James replaced Crandle, and as nu metal had started to become less popular, the band agreed to give it one final shot, changing their name to Bullet For My Valentine (referring to the ‘loving lyrical content’ of their material). Over the next few months, the band played at concerts to attract the interest of record labels, a tactic which bore fruit - at a show in London, Roadrunner Records showed interest and offered the band a deal. However, the band ultimately declined, and signed a 5 years record deal with Sony BMG (the choice of Sony was justified by front man Tuck, who said ‘We thought that a lot more doors would be open to us with the Sony deal’). A http://www.mosh2music.com/artists/bullet-for-my-valentine/ bullet-for-my-valentine-ep">self titled, 5 track EP was released in November 2004 in the UK, produced by Colin Richardson and mixed by Andy Sneap, marking the band’s first official release. A second EP, “Hand of Blood”, was released in August 2005 in the US, containing 1 extra track than the self-titled EP ("4 Words (To Choke Upon)").

Bullet For My Valentine’s debut album, “The Poison”, was released in the UK in October 2005, and in February 2006 in the US. It entered the Billboard 200 Album chart at number 128, reached number 3 on the Top Heatseekers chart, number 11 on the Independent Albums chart, and number 21 in the UK. It has sold over 500,000 copies in the US. 4 singles were released from “The Poison”, including "All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)", which peaked on the Mainstream Rock chart and Modern Rock chart at numbers 13 and 30 respectively, and made the Top 30 in the UK, and “Tears Don’t Fall”, which peaked on the Mainstream Rock chart and Modern Rock chart at numbers 24 and 32 respectively, and made the UK Top 40. Bullet For My Valentine won Kerrang!’s “Best British Newcomer” in 2005, and “Tears Don’t Fall” also won Kerrang!’s “Best UK Single” in 2006.

Bullet For My Valentine’s 2nd studio album, “Scream Aim Fire”, was recorded at Sonic Ranch Studios, produced by Colin Richardson, and released in January 2008. The album made number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling around 53,000 in its first week. It also topped the Independent Album chart, and made the Top 5 in the UK, Australia and Sweden. In early 2009, “Scream Aim Fire” was re-released with 4 bonus tracks, and the band won a 3rd Kerrang! award with “Best British Band” (for 2008).