and they’ve immediately moved over to……..no one else!!!! Now that kind of news surprises me and hence has been included in this line of observations. I am kind of shocked because its not often that a band like H.I.M. makes such a drastic parting and doesn’t immediately roll over to another label of note based on their own status in the music world. I had been following them since around 2002-2003 and my own first foray into their sound came with “Razorblade Romance”.
I wasn’t even doing my music journalist stuff as a serious passion at this time but it would be soon after and I swore that this would be the kind of groups I would pay a lot of attention to. Solid and accessible despite no one in my circle of friends even knowing what they were all about at the time of my original recommending. Since becoming a writer in later part of 2003 I have watched the fan base for Ville Vallo and the rest of the guys in H.I.M. grow to a sizable force and to find them without a record label of note in 2011 was a pretty strange thing for me to see being the case.
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While I know a few labels pretty well after reviewing their wares and repertoire over the years I had to say that I didn’t feel as though some favorites like Nuclear Blast Records or Napalm Records were the best place for a band like H.I.M. – I also didn’t think Roadrunner Records or Metal Blade Records were suitable either based on the differences that they currently offer. Of course on one hand maybe RR would work since they have their Finnish countrymen Nightwish for a few years and have done right by them. Personally I think I would like to see H.I.M. land on Universal Music in some fashion. That might be the best home for their kind of Melodic Gothic Love Metal. Stay tuned to see what happens and let’s cross our fingers for everyone in H.I.M. – They are one of the most enjoyable providers I have seen over the years and I don’t want them to become a faded memory.
Artist: HIM Title: “Screamworks: Love In Theory and Practice” Label: Sire Records Release Date: 2/9/2010 Genre: Melodic Gothic Rock Rating: 4/5
“Screamworks: Love In Theory & Practice” is the seventh full length album by Finland’s HIM and while it’s the successor to the crunching sounds we found on “Venus Doom” there seems to be more of a relationship to the bands “Razorblade Romance” and “Love Metal” releases if one had to draw a quick musical comparison. “Screamworks” does maintain an original sound of its own but it is back to the melodic and catchy basics for the guys and that means there is a lot of tunes on the album that will have you singing along in no time and likely after only a couple of listens. It starts of strong with “In Venere Veritas” which bears a Latin name and if one is to trust the online searches for some translation is roughly seems to mean “In Sex, Truth” which leads you to believe that the premise of HIM’s material has not really changed all that much and this is a very good thing since they excel at tales of Love, Sex and Death when it comes down to it. I liked the flow of this tune and even its interesting little chanting segment in the middle. It grabs you and this is always important for an albums opener. “Scared To Death” is the second tune and it’s a warm and slower track that has a lush sounding chorus and one that I was humming before the song even ended. “Heartkiller” appears to be the main song that they are pushing from the album as its first single or “hit” so to speak and some folks had expressed concern about the song sounding too commercial for their liking and after hearing it a number of times I had to say that they should relax. It’s surely not a lame song in the normal commercial sense but it is a very easy to access song and just might be a number that brings more people into the bands listener base. Continue reading “Screamworks: Love In Theory and Practice” by HIM→
Artist: HIM Title: “Heartkiller” (Single) Label: Sire/Reprise Records Release Date: 12/7/2009 Genre: Gothic Hard Rock Rating: 4/5
Fans of the Finnish Melancholy Rock superstars of HIM are going to love the chance to get an advance listen to their latest work with the single “Heartkiller” which comes from their soon to be released album “Screamworks: Love In Theory and Practice”. It will arrive care of their longtime label Sire/Reprise Records. I gave the tune a few spins and wanted to share my thoughts about it with you all since I’ve been a HIM fan since around 2003. Continue reading “Heartkiller” (Single) by HIM→
Artist: HIM Title: “Digital Versatile Doom: Live at the Orpheum Theater” Label: Sire Records Release Date: 4/29/2008 Genre: Gothic Melodic Rock Rating: 4.5/5
Captured during the bands tour for the “Venus Doom” album, “Digital Versatile Doom” delivers to the HIM fans worldwide a long hoped for live recording of their material. It’s certainly been a long time coming, for while the band had been active since 1991 and released five studio albums, this marks the first ever live collection of their repertoire. Fortunately for the bands diehard fan base, the live set for the album does not only focus on their most recent studio release “Venus Doom” and instead pays careful attention to the bands long-established hits by paying a visit to the albums that preceded it. Recently we have been finding bands delivering most of or all of their recent works on live releases and depending on the band that is doing it is how you can best perceive its reception from the fans. Dream Theater manages to pull it off without issue time and time again, but when Iron Maiden did their full new release for the concert it was met with a largely negative response. We have yet to see this particular performance come to light on a video releases and only time will tell if it should ever happen. I was glad that HIM didn’t avoid the older stuff because there are just too many songs that I have come to appreciate and look forward to hearing at every show. Being a stateside fan, I admit to being a bit of a latecomer to their sound, but I did manage to catch them at every visit since 2004 which is when they started coming over here for shows. I first picked up on their music at around early 2003 and have been following them very loyally since that time. It’s nice to have a live set for the stereo or music player to walk around with to help keep company to the other releases from the band. Continue reading “Digital Versatile Doom: Live at the Orpheum Theater” by HIM→
HIM was back and headlining for two nights at the beautiful Nokia Theatre Times Square and PiercingMetal.com was happy to be on point for the show review which was discussed on THIS LINK. Our stalwart companion Peter Parrella shot a majority of these images from the show but I also did a bunch which are captioned below. Enjoy this gallery of one of our favorite groups.