HIM
His infernal majesty is back…and with a vengeance.
Sometimes I wish I could convince my grandma that is sitting on her sofa and repeatedly crazy listening to Sami Yusuf's "Asmaullah" & "Ya Ommi" and let her listen to "Venus Doom"…yeah…from the start to the end…giving her a unique opportunity to experience gothic opera…and to pass through the ninth gate of hell.
This experiment will prove that you do not have to wear all in black, pierce your lips and let your hair grow to enjoy love metal.
The days of the Baroon Castle…the days of death metal in Cairo…this is now history…isn't it?
I miss these days.
When we talk about a good album…we talk about discovering special moments in each song of the whole album…and fortunately this is the case with the newly released album of HIM.
Of course it is very close to their greater album " Razorblade Romance"…with their masterful and still their best song to date " Join me" ( in Death )…but at least it is not a big disappointment like the cheesy James Blunt's "All the lost souls".
The epic 10 minutes "Sleepwalking Past Hope" is one of my favorite songs…it is a journey…a journey in soul's pain…and a journey through the professional work with music.
Beginning with a beautiful Chopin-piano-like melody…a much darker one than that played in the beginning of "The Sacrament"…followed by heavy electric guitar…your body will surely shiver when the moment comes…the moment when Ville says
In our hearts love keeps sweet-talking to despair
…with a sensational keyboard sound in the background that have an effect of acupuncture entering your body.
After 5 minutes I hear for the first time Valo's voice going so deep like falling in a dark hole
I gave up long ago
…even deeper than the time when he sang " Bitter Sweet" with The Rasmus and Apocalyptica…which worked here excellently opposite the highly pitched background sound of xylophone.
And then comes the peak of this song…the marvelous words that say
Ville Valo surprised me with the use of paradox…when he goes up and up with his voice to his highest level - after he has done the same with his deepest voice-screaming out loud ( there is no hooooooooope )…before finishing this drama song with Bono's gasping style that was used in "Hold me, Thrill me, Kiss me, Kill Me".
The mishmash of different musical instruments closing the song including the African drums and the alternative use of keyboard merge strangely in harmony.
"Cyanide Sun" reminds me of my early days with the devil…when we used to sit face to face in a room filled with marijuana smoke and in an atmosphere of ecstatic mood that forced me to swing my head in all directions…in euphoric pleasure due to the magical effect of "The Funeral of Love".
I don't know why…but it also reminds me of Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters"…when I hear it in a backwards manner.
Transformer's "Passion's Killing Floor" is more metal than rock…with a nice electronic echo melting inside.
The haunting "The Kiss of Dawn" is more rock than metal…and it sounds more commercial than "Vampire Heart" from "Dark Light".
The Chorus in "Love in Cold Blood" emphasizes the chilling feelings you get when the lead singer pats the song with
Darling take me home
In this album I miss a lot the elegant and catchy use of keyboard and strings that was (and still is) a trademark of this genre…and used previously in their songs like "In Joy and Sorrow".
But I was happy with the return of Lindström's guitar power...in "Dead Lover's Lane" and "Bleed Well".
The songs require more than a couple listens to fully digest it…but I am sure Bam Margera ate them all already.
One can't believe that metal and particularly love metal still live in our nowadays pop-plastic era…nevertheless I could not help feeling worried…but with the still existing and growing underworld metal fans…and the talented efforts and success of His Infernal Majesty…the heartagram will shine…and for a long time.
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