Bullet For My Valentine to begin tour July 14

Bullet For My Valentine, one of the most notable metal exports to come from the United Kingdom in the last few years, will kick off their 2008 headlining tour on Tuesday, July 14 at the Rave in Milwaukee, WI. The dates are in support of the band's latest album "Scream Aim Fire," which debuted at #4 in the U.S. and simultaneously in the Top 5 in the UK, Australia, Germany and Japan.

Sponsored by the No Fear clothing company, the first leg of Bullet For My Valentine's North American tour will run to mid-August (dates below); the second leg will run throughout September, dates to be announced shortly. Joining Bullet For My Valentine for the tour will be Bleeding Through and on select dates, Cancer Bats and Black Tide.

A "fan club presale" begins tomorrow, Wednesday, May 28 - log onto http://www.ticketmaster.com/artist/1225351 for more info, while tickets go on sale to the general public the following weekend.

Hailing from Bridgend, Wales and armed with a sound that merges slamming vintage thrash metal (a la Metallica), tricky song structures (a la Iron Maiden), and simply roaring vocals (a la Pantera), the Bullet For My Valentine lads have all the bases covered. The quartet - which includes members Matthew Tuck (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Michael "Padge" Paget (lead guitar, vocals), Jason "Jay" James (bass, vocals), and Michael "Moose" Thomas (drums) - originally formed in 1998 and began building a name for themselves on the strength of their 2005 full-length debut, "The Poison," which has sold north of one-million copies worldwide - more than 400,000 copies in the U.S. alone. The album's supporting tour saw the group travel the world and play alongside some of metal's most renowned names, including opening mammoth shows back home for the likes of Guns N' Roses and Metallica, and touring the U.S. as part of the Warped Tour.

But it's on their latest release that it has truly all come together for the group. Debuting at #4 on the Billboard charts, "Scream Aim Fire" has been heralded as one of the year's top metal releases, while the album's title track has received heavy attention on both Fuse and Headbanger's Ball. According to frontman Matt Tuck, the group's sophomore full-length is "really melodic heavy metal..catchy, hooky choruses and full-on vocals, with the music being very in-your-face and heavy...it's a lot more uptempo [than 'The Poison'], a lot more aggressive."

Additionally, it's the rave reviews that Bullet For My Valentine is receiving on their recent tours that is showing incredible growth and maturity for the band. Case in point, a recent Australian tour resulted in the following praise from the Daily XPress in Perth - "Years from now, this gig will still be remembered by those who were there as one of the most insane and off the hook nights of their lives. It will take something special to top this night."

The complete itinerary for Leg One of Bullet For My Valentine's North American headlining tour is as follows:
JULY
14 The Rave, Milwaukee, WI
15 House of Blues, Chicago, IL
16 Myth, Minneapolis, MN
17 The Venue, Fargo, ND
19 Shrine, Billings, MT
21 The Big Easy, Spokane, WA
22 Showbox SoDo, Seattle, WA
23 Roseland, Portland, OR
25 Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
27 House of Blues, San Diego, CA
28 House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV
29 Marquee, Phoenix, AZ
31 House of Blues, Dallas, TX
AUGUST
1 Stubbs, Austin, TX
2 Verizon Wireless, Houston, TX
5 Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD
6 House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ
8 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY
9 Hampton Beach Casino, Hampton Beach, NH
11 Metropolis, Montreal, QC, Canada
12 Kool Haus, Toronto, ONT Canada
14 House of Blues, Cleveland, OH
15 Orbit Room, Grand Rapids, MI
16 The Fillmore at State Theatre, Detroit, MI