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 the UK, and on 14 February 2006 in the 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 (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 internationally, earning a both 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 (BVMI) in Germany.

Reception
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". 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 gave the album a 3.5 out of 5 summarizing "The Welsh quartet shows differing levels of hope for the metalcore genre." 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 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.

In 2024, music blogger Finn McKenty, while reviewing the career of Bullet For My Valentine in his YouTube video for the Punk Rock MBA channel, attributed the success of the Poison album to the fact that the band created a distinct sound that would be equally appealing to different audiences, such as those of emo and heavy metal genres, calling it a mix of My Chemical Romance, Metallica, and metalcore.

Personnel

 * Bullet for My Valentine
 * Matthew Tuck – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, additional lead guitar, bass (uncredited)
 * Michael "Padge" Paget – lead guitar
 * Jason "Jay" James – bass (credited but doesn't perform), vocals
 * Michael "Moose" Thomas – drums


 * Additional musicians
 * Eicca Toppinen – arrangement (on "Intro")
 * Apocalyptica – cellos (on "Intro")


 * Production details
 * All lyrics by Matt Tuck
 * All music by Bullet for My Valentine
 * Except "Intro" cellos by Apocalyptica, arrangement by Eicca Toppinen
 * Except "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" 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 (To Choke Upon)" 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 (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