History-The Poison (2005–2007)

Bullet for My Valentine's debut album, The Poison, was released on 3 October 2005 in the UK and on Valentine's Day, 2006 in the U.S. It entered the Billboard 200 at number 128,^[6] and attained number 11 on the Top Independent Albums chart.^[7] On 30 January 2009, the album was certified gold by the RIAA after 500,000 copies were sold in the U.S..^[8] Four singles were released from The Poison: "4 Words (To Choke Upon)", "Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)", "All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)", and "Tears Don't Fall".^[9] Bullet for My Valentine promoted the album by touring across the world. In 2005, with increased popularity, they played on the larger Download Festival Snickers stage;^[10] in 2006, the band were moved to near the top of the main stage bill.^[11] Other tours included opening for Metallica and Guns N' Roses in the summer of 2006,^[12] the Vans Warped Tour, Kerrang! tour, and Earthday Birthday.

Bullet for My Valentine at 2007's Earthday Birthday (depicted from left to right: Paget, James, and Tuck).

The band's performance at the Brixton Academy in London on January 28, 2006, was filmed for their first DVD, The Poison: Live at Brixton.^[13][14] During June 2007, Tuck suffered from laryngitis, which let to an emergency tonsillectomy in July.^[15] Bullet for My Valentine were forced to cancel several shows, including supporting Metallica for three dates on their Sick of the Studio '07 tour on 29 June in Bilbao, 5 July in Vienna, and 8 July at the recently completed Wembley Stadium in London.^[16] Unable to speak, Tuck wrote that as soon as doctors cleared him he would be in the studio working on the band's next album