Bullet for My Valentine, Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold

A couple of decades back, U.K. metal acts such as Iron Maiden ruled the hard-rock world. Since then, the market for British steel has gone soft—but Bullet for My Valentine lead singer/guitarist Matt Tuck sees signs of stiffening.

"It's something that we think about and are aware of—that we could be the next big British metal act," Tuck says. "There's no one else even competing with us for the moment, which is good with us."

While Bullet's angsty "All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)," from the 2006 full-length The Poison, became a sizable hit in Europe and in the States, the January-released Scream Aim Fire seems poised to do even better despite being targeted by doubters upset by what they see as commercially motivated compromises. Tuck denies this charge.

"The main thing we've done on this one was write songs in major keys, which automatically makes them a bit poppier," he allows. "As soon as you step into that zone, people start yelling 'Sellout!' and 'You're not a metal band anymore!' But I'm not the type of person afraid of trying something different."

On this bill, which finds Bullet paired with Atreyu and Avenged Sevenfold, among others, for the Taste of Chaos tour, you'll have your chance to decide for yourself.