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We predict more heartagram tattoos.
HIM’s cult of popularity among angst-ridden punks hasn’t always correlated with their lush, synth=heavy Goth sound. Sure, singer Ville Valo and is Finnish brood are worship-ready rock stars, but HIM’s music hasn’t always, well, rocked. Perhaps this is why their sixth offering, Venus Doom, is such a refreshing return to an organic, guitar-driven sound unheard since 2003’s Love Metal. That’s not to say HIM have abandoned their gloomy tendencies: For every hard-hitting song like “Love In Cold Blood” and “Kiss Of Dawn, ” there’s the Type O Negative-influenced “Sleepwalking Past Hope,” plus the rhapsodic title track; and Valo’s hypnotic voice remains as seductive as ever on the stripped-down “Song Or Suicide.” Yet for all of Venus Doom’s sonic achievements, noticeably scant are HIM’s trademark syrupy choruses. Was the trade off worth it? Let’s just say that HIM’s skater fans will find Venus Doom to be a pleasure that’s decidedly less guilty.(Sire) Zena Tsarfin


The review is out now in issue 232 for November 2007 of AP magazine.