The Poison is the debut studio album by Welshmetalcore bandBullet for My Valentine. The album was released on 3 October 2005 throughVisible Noise Records in UK, and on14 February 2006 in United States throughTrustkill Records. The album included 11 new songs and two previously heard songs, "Cries in Vain", which was previously heard from the band'sself-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".[3]
The album debuted at number 128 on theBillboard 200[4] and number 2 on the Heatseekers Chart,[4] and as of 30 January 2018, the album has sold 1,600,000 copies worldwide[5] and 500,000 copies in the US.[6] It is the band's most commercially successful effort internationally, earning a gold certification by both theRIAA in the United States and the band's nativeBPI in the United Kingdom, and a platinum certification byBundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) in Germany.
For the 20th anniversary of the album, the band released a 20th anniversary edition of the album and announced 'The Poisoned Ascendancy' Tour withTrivium that took place in 2025 with Trivium celebrating the 20th anniversary of their successful albumAscendancy.[7]
At the time of the album's release, Corey Apar ofAllMusic compared the sound onThe Poison to the likes ofAtreyu,Funeral for a Friend andAlexisonfire, stating that the band utilize "the glossy, melodic metal-meets-emo aesthetic, utilizing darkly romanticized lyrics that are smoothly sung and growled side-by-side".[9] Raziq Rauf of Drowned in Sound also compared the album's sound to the early work of Atreyu.[10]
Corey Apar ofAllMusic 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".[11] Sputnikmusic gave the album a 3.5 out of 5, saying the group offers "differing levels of hope for the metalcore genre."[17] Music Emissions complimented the album's guitar work and hooks, but believed only fans of the metalcore genre would enjoy the album.[18]
Stylus Magazine gave the album a C− (below average) and said thatThe Poison album appeared to be "made for provincial 15-year-olds to get violent with each other", citing "The Poison" and "Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)" as the album's strongest songs.[19] Punknews.org wrote that the album was "drab", criticizing the album's pace, vocal delivery, and dynamics.[13]
