News
ABOUT.COM GIVES VENUS DOOM 3.5 STARS
HIM, the purveyors of Finnish "love metal," return with their sixth full-length CD, and the second to receive wide U.S. release. 2005's Dark Light sold over 500,000 copies and went gold. Anticipation was high for their newest album.
Venus Doom will satisfy the band's legion of fans, although it may not draw a huge amount of new converts to the cause. This album is a little heavier than Dark Light, and a little darker as well. The songs blend doom, gothic metal and rock into a very melodic and accessible package. The guitar work is excellent, and is the dominant instrument on this album instead of keyboards.
Charismatic frontman Ville Valo showcases his throaty baritone voice on several songs along with a more traditional melodic style. He throws in a few yells along the way as well. HIM is a band that is really polarizing amongst metal fans, and they have been known to win both "best band" and "worst band" awards in the same magazine poll. They also don't get a lot of love from critics. But when you toss out all the hype and b.s. and evaluate HIM on the music alone, they are a solid gothic metal band that writes catchy songs, and Venus Doom is a definite improvement from their last one.
Chad Bowar, About.com
Comments
3,5 stars??? What a joke!
Mais uma nota destas e deito-me no chão a rir... Um disco com canções como Bleed Well, Sleepwalking Past Hope, Venus Doom, Love In Cold Blood, etc, é um hino à música!
0 stars to about.com!
João, Portugal
Here we go again
Another "expert" this time from about.com critize HIM and gives Venus Doom 3.5. Surprised anyone? No. There's a still a longway to go for mainstream american media to recognize solid metal with poetry for lyrics. I agree with Roses and Thorns, it's a better review than Rolling Stone, but we all know HIM deserves not better but the best reviews. :)
STAND OUT US HIM FANS !!!!!!! FUCK WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT HIM!
i fucking also hate how people say that HIM is all fucking bad and not good for anything but they dont sit down and listen to what there saying, its beautiful poetry!!
HIM is lot more than music,
HIM is lot more than music, but only few people realises that...
Well that sucks... I still
Well that sucks... I still think HIM is the best though!
~~N0~~~
I really can't understand these people! can anyone tell me how they're thinking? all that's bullshit!! and my father says the same! o my god!!! i really can't understand them!!! do you? the worst band? i want to know if these people have ever played music in their life? Paranoid? No i'm not!!!
HIM ROCKS
I think America isn't ripe for VENUS DOOM and HIM!
go true HIM lovers!
i'm happy to see that i wasn't the only one pissed off about this don't talk bullshit about are darlings if you can't see HIM for what they're really for an Unbelievable, amazing band then just shut the fuck up - the fans are loving them and the music that's all that counts.
bullshit is right
i think their music has gotten better over the years. i think that the critics are a**holes and dont know what the f*ck their talking about.
better and better
all these talks about genre and wich albumis better than other became annoying.let's just apreciate and respect all their work and hope they keep creating wonderful songs.VD has passed my expectations,my fav is 'sleepwalking past hope'but entire album is great,realy gives 'shivers down my spine'.huggs and kisses,darlings!
WTF???
HIM WIN A "WORST BAND" POLL?!?!
YOU PEOPLE ARE REALLY STUPID THESE DAYS. I MEAN-WAKE UP YOU IDIOTS!!! WHEN YOU FIND A GUITARIST WHO CAN PUNCH A SOLO LIKE LINDE, THEN YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK! LINDE BELONGS SIDE BY SINDE ALONG WITH TONY IOMMI, JIMMY PAGE, ANGUS YOUNG, STEVE VAI, JOE SATRIANI...ALL OF THEM!!!!
HIM IS MUSIC. HIM IS THE ONLY THING YOU CAN CALL MUSIC THESE DAYS. WHAT-JUST SPEED IS IMPORTANT TODAY? HIM MAY NOT BE AS FAST AS CHILDREN OF BODOM, BUT HIM'S UNION, AS A BAND, MAKES MORE THAN UP FOR IT. NEVER SINCE BLACK SABBATH HAS THERE BEEN A SOLID METAL SONG SINCE HIM CAME ALONG. HIM RULES. IT ALWAYS WILL. I PROBABLY WON'T MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE WITH THIS, BUT-I TRIED. AND I WILL TRY UNTIL EVERY LAST IDIOT ON THE GLOBE UNDERSTANDS THE "THING" THAT MAKES THIS BAND THE BEST BAND EVER!!!
I think your caps lock
I think your caps lock button was stuck. You should really check that before you type. =)
I agree that there is no way HIM is the worst band ever. But there are people that hate this kind of music, and they're allowed to hate it. Then there are just those jerks that do it because they listen to korn or something, and everything else is nothing in comparison. So when they vote in polls for who they hate, they pick HIM. Pure jealousy on their part, I think.
You don't need to have a cow, hun. :) Besides everyone on this site loves HIM, so you're preaching to the choir.
bull s**t
ok i hate america or ppl have just been stealing alot of "Venus Doom"cd's [i hope]
wow this sux i even pre orderd this cd wtf ppl
HIM is Love Metal - Not Goth !!!!
How many times does the band itself have to say it ..."We are not goth." The music is driving and in your face LOVE METAL. If you don't like their style on one song, try the next. Ville and the band are always changing things up. CD to CD, song to song or rift to rift. And Ville's voice knows no range. It is clear and sultry no matter what key it is in. Take away all the trappings of a studio album and strip the songs down to just Ville's voice and an acoustic guitar - still pure beauty.
You must also know something about the band members to fully understand the "genre" of LOVE METAL and they OWN it fully. Some of the songs are misunderstood by the general public. They speak to me of the pleasure of pain and the cathartic(sp)way they make me feel. It is like having a good cry with a dear friend. It meant something deep, to have that friend know your innermost feelings and really understand you. When it is over, you feel much better and more hopeful than you did before. In addition you feel much closer to that friend. Now, go back and read this paragraph over and put the band HIM's name where I said friend. That is my review.
They are very dear to me and I feel closer to them after each and every song I hear.
LOVE THAT METAL!!
Lisa
Better than Rolling Stone...
3.5 stars is better than 3 stars from Rolling Stone.
But it deserves infinity stars anyway. We all know that. ;)
I love every album. I hear everyone saying Dark Light sucks, but that's what got me hooked! From there I just spread out and listened to the other albums.
Venus Doom is definetly the best so far... at least in this point of time for me. They're all amazingly brilliant.
This review isn't actually that bad. What they said was accurate, and they did say "love metal" at the beginning. It's really not too big of a deal. If you love the music, you love it. What the genre is labled shouldn't effect the feel of it. Though, I only refer to HIM as love metal. =D
Though I respect your
Though I respect your opinion, since everyone is entitled to one, I have to disagree. Venus Doom is not their best album, and Dark Light, though it has it's good moments, most of it was too poppy for some of us HIM fans.
Venus Doom is amazing though, and I am glad that it is getting good reviews, unlike Love Metal back in the day. How depressing...
"Too much work makes Ville a really dull boy..." Ville Valo, 2003
Actually...
Actually, what I meant by their best album was that it's the best to me right now. My favorite album of HIM's is always changing. I love them all, though. =)
please
please they return to Mexico here we want much to them and we appreciated its music.....
kisses!!!! yeah!!
The Best Band On The Planet
Dark Light was amazing, and Venus Doom is even better, in my opinon. **** them! what do they know about good music? I think their wrong about, the album not being able to draw in more fans. I like the harder stuff, so of course i'm biased, but I think it will grab alot of attention. Your the best band on earth, I love you guys.
Ashley
i
i jussssssssssssstttttttttttt looooovvvvvveeee theeem
i agree with jessie24, ITS
i agree with jessie24, ITS LOVE METAL! not gothic, not emo, (well i think) but seriously, H.I.M. is a band diferent from any other, and ville DOES get pissed when they ask what kind of music they play.... ITS LOVE METAL PEEPS!!!!
and magazines shouldnt rate shit because they dont even matter to us, THE FANS are the ones that should decide if the cd is good or not, bacause like whiteyHIM said, they probably only listen to it once and they dont even know what the lyrics mean! thats the most important thing!!!! (thanx 4 reading)
:] haha
Reviews
It makes me laugh how reviews of this type of music are done by people who probably listened to bands like U2 or Duran Duran and thought they were rock. I am sorry but, HIM stands for the dark side of people's emotions and they target that in every song and every album. That is what makes them stand out from the rest of the Metal music I listen to. I enjoy bands that have crazy sounds and good lyrics, but when I want to listen to words and music that relate to things that most "normal" people can't grasp, I listen to HIM and feel better knowing I am not the only miserable person in the world. Bottom line to the negative reviews: Like HIM or hate HIM, just listen and you might learn something about what rock is REALLY supposed to be.
BEST BAND EVER
When i read critics (most of the times), i have the feeling that most of the ppl are kinda hostile to HIM...and i never understood that...They always talk about Villes appearance, and his 'catchy' songs!!!!
This is bullshit...so what if Ville is handsome? That means he doesnt have the right to write amazing songs? He doesnt have the right to compose perfect music? Being handsome means that u dont have a talent? Everyone seems to concentrate in Villes beauty and that if it wasnt for that - HIM would suck!!!!
C'mon ppl.....give us a break and give VD the best critic u can give...
To me VD is the best album of HIM, that doesnt mean that i dont like all the previous albums - thats not the case 4 me cos i fuckin love each one album and each one track - but VD is really sth special...Valo is more mature and u can clearly see and listen to it through the new album...
so for me and every true fan of HIM, they will always be one of the most genuine bands out there!!!
I think...
Well first I apologize for my awful English...
I Shall begin that the Venus Doom is the first album which I in general have heard from HIM creativity, yes heard before pair songs, but somehow not so paid attention.Yea the album heavier, than previous, there are more guitar chords, but Venus Doom is the fine album.
Because of it I have started to listen HIM.
I apologize for the awful English if you still though have understood something)
True HIM following fans...
I would have to agree with Jessie24, when it comes down to magazine critics and their take on a band like HIM and rating a CD. They probably listen to the CD once, and critique it off the basis of a CD and a band they have truly not followed and loved over the years. Most of the times I do not even read what critics have to say about Valo, and HIM as a band. It matters what the fans think, their hardcore fan base is the strongest and most dedicated fans in the world. How many fans out there of other bands in the past, out now, that can compare of the dedication and the love of the music, lyrics, and the meaning of Valo's words. Not to mention, tattooing themselves with the well-known emblem known as the "heartagram." I know there were some good things said about HIM as a band in that article. But I definitely don't think the band gets the recognition they deserve.
To the band, keep doing what you love, keep putting out music and songs that you have over the years. Yes Venus Doom is darker, less keyboards, but that is what Valo was looking for in this album. Each HIM CD is therapy for me, Venus Doom right now is the darkness that I'm feeling in my life. On the other hand, putting on razorblade romance, greatest love songs, love metal, deep shadows and brilliant highlights each with their own unique sound, lyrics, feeling, and meaning.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, you have to be a true fan to understand the talent and quality that HIM has over any other band in the world. In the meantime I will wear my t-shirts, tattoos of the hHeartagram, and back HIM even to the day I die, as I’m put in that casket with a Heartagram emblem on the outside.
-Wayne
Yeah Baby...
You go girlfriend!!! I couldn't agree more. And by the way, Ville darling, you've got more talent than all the other rockstars thrown together...
Yeah Baby...
You go girlfriend!!! I couldn't agree more. And by the way, Ville darling, you've got more talent than all the other rockstars thrown together...
uh-uh
i think this is bullsh*t for one thing i don't like that he called HIM a gothic metal band that writes catchy songs why must everyone call them gothic metal they're not! (just love metal people) and ville can't stand it when people do call them that i know he was saying good things about the band i just don't like how he said them and the album is totally a 5.5 in my book but when it comes down to it - it only matters what the fans think and we're every satisfied (hopefully i can speak for all fans when i say that)
and if this sounds bitchy i don't mean for it to be i just don't like it when someone talks bad about my babies