Photos + Review: Bullet for my Valentine & Trivium @ Mystic Lake (Prior Lake, MN)

Bullet for my Valentine (Bridgend, UK), Trivium (Orlando, FL)
April 26th, 2025
Mystic Lake in Prior Lake, MN 

Trivium’s Ascendancy, and Bullet for my Valentine’s The Poison are both turning 20 years old this year. That befuddles my mind to no extent.

These songs are now as old as the songs off Master of Puppets and Rust and Piece that I thought were so old when listening to them for the first time in 2005.

Kids in the school I work in have never known a world without these albums.

How has time gone by so fast? Crazy.

Bullet for my Valentine and Trivium are currently embarking on a Poisoned Ascendancy tour, which recently passed through Minnesota. It’s been something on my radar for a long time now, as prior to this leg, they had gone through one overseas in the UK and the like. It was announced well in advance of the first date, so there’s been a lot of build up for me leading up to last Friday’s date. I said right away on first announcement that this was going to be the best concert of my life.

It lived up to the hype.

I remember vividly the countless hours spent listening to both albums. Starting with Ascendancy; I remember it being the one to single handedly get me into metal (and specifically metalcore). I was only a punk kid before, who’s favorite bands were The Offspring and System of a Down. Hearing Matt Heafy’s screams in Like Light to the Flies changed me from hating screams, to enjoying them and understanding their value in music. The Poison was the oft-recommended album to listen to afterwards if you liked what you heard. The two albums completed such a well rounded yin-yang. Both heavy, yet incredibly melodic and catchy in their choruses. “Pull Harder on the Strings of your Martyr” was one of the first songs I could play acceptably on guitar.

As crazy as it is to consider how time has past, I’m just as happy to see how much the two of these bands have grown over the years. I’ve been with them since the beginning. My first concert ever was me trying to see Trivium on their first headlining tour ever back in 06 at a small space Station 4. That didn’t quite pan out, as their bus broke down on their way in Iowa. But I did catch them on their rescheduled date. I didn’t get to see Bullet live during the time, but I do give them major credit for getting me back into the live scene, and into concert photography with their 2015 date in support of their Venom album. I’ve been able to catch ever show of each band’s whenever they’ve been in town since, and it’s been highly rewarding seeing the venues steadily get bigger and bigger.

That’s kinda what made this night a little bit on the weird side. This show was played at a casino’s showroom, that happened to have all, and only, seats. Not something I’m used to, nor did I expect. Older me that doesn’t really mosh was stoked at the idea of having a seat through the whole thing, but I know that seated shows generally have a harder time at being high energy, even if everyone still stand. So I was most curious about how this was all going to translate. It was weird. But big credit to the bands for doing what they could to keep up the energy, and get the crowd going. During the moments I was hanging out in the back of the venue, it was impressive to see all the people there, and everybody was jamming out.

Both bands played as perfectly as I could have hoped. I was incredibly impressed that they even played the albums in their original tuning. Trivium has tended to drop down a half step, and I’m fairly certain I’ve heard Bullet do the same thing time I’ve seen them prior, so that was a nice little bonus to keep with the authenticity. Matt Heafy of Trivium has stepped up his screaming game even further recently, regaining much of the power that initially drew me to him. Matt Tuck from Bullet for my Valentine, equally sounded impressive. Impressive in that he sounded very good this night, and also that he’s been able to continue to sound this good to this point.

The rest of the bands killed it, as per usual, no surprises there. Corey Beaulieu is going to go down as one of the best guitarist in the genre. Alex Bent is an incomprehensible octopus behind the drums. Padge I don’t think made a single mistake on his guitar. Jamie Mathias Reminded me once again why I was so excited by him when I saw him for the first time back in 2015, with his killer screams, incredible singing voice, and steadying bass playing.

Pack it up, send it home. This is forever going to go down as one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen and been a part of.