Artist: HIM
Title: “Strange World” (Single)
Label: The End Records
Release Date: 10/26/2012
Genre: Gothic Rock
Rating: 4/5

The brand-new HIM album is available as you read this if you live in Europe while the rest of us here in the USA will have to wait until next week to indulge in its awesomeness. It’s a compilation release or “greatest hits” package and is entitled “XX: Two Decades Of Love Metal”. It comes care of the bands now new The End Records and while all of the songs have been heard on other releases, the lead off track and first single is a brand-new number as delivered by HIM. The tune is called “Strange World” and here are a few quick thoughts about it.

Hopefully the band is not something new to your ears at this point and you know that not only does HIM deliver a solid and often somber tune, but that they are also damned good at covers of things. “Strange World” is actually a cover by an artist known as Ke and I will not lie and say that I’ve known about him in any sense before this. I did make sure to listen to Ke’s version of the tune and the way that HIM delivers it is quite different and in some sense the Finns manage to morph the tune into the driving vibe that their fans expect of them. As a matter of fact if I could scroll back through time I could see this version of the song sitting perfectly with the other tracks on their classic “Razorblade Romance” album. I played this one a few times and think Ville sounds perfect while the musicianship is just what I have always enjoyed about the band. I cannot wait to sink my teeth into the full compilation and promise to get that to you as soon as possible. Since this was a brand new track and available as a single, I couldn’t resist giving it a special spotlight of its own.

Track Listing:
1. Strange World

Official Website: http://www.heartagram.com