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HIM
Dark Light


4.5
superb

Review

by Nightside USER (7 Reviews)
June 4th, 2006 | 45 replies


Release Date: 2005 | Tracklist


HIM (His Infernal Majesty) is:
Ville Valo-Vocals
Daniel Lioneye (Linde)-Guitar
Mige-Bass
Emerson Burton-Keyboards
Gas Lipstick-Drums

HIM emerged from Helsinki, Finland in 1994, but if you go to the roots-1991.
They put their first album out in 1997 called Greatest Lovesongs Vol.666 which consisted of some of their heaviest material including "Your sweet 666", "Its All Tears (Drown In This Love)", and cover tunes such as "Wicked Game" by Chris Issack and "Don’t Fear The Reaper" originally by Blue Oyster Cult. Their next album-Razorblade Romance was an album based on much of the 80's Rock N' Roll and was centered around the glam/goth scene. Deep Shadows And Brilliant Highlights was an album that was mostly composed of their softer material including ballad's such as "In Joy And Sorrow" and Close To The Flame". Love Metal (2004) was one of their albums very different from the rest and somewhat heavier. They've even put out a greatest hits album called And Love Said No (Greatest hits 1997-2004) to celebrate ten years of rocking. Recently HIM has signed to an American record label and is now working with producer Tim Palmer (Ozzy Osbourne, U2, etc.). "There we were. Gas a hopeless Slayer addict and Burton completely hooked on Tchaikovsky. Mige getting high on Brian Eno and Linde tripping on Jimi Hendrix on a regular basis. Me, I was curing my hangovers with shots of Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison." -Ville Valo From HIM

Tracks:

Vampire Heart (4:46)
Starts out with a high pitched electric guitar, and after a couple of seconds all instruments come in to tune. A nice keyboard through out the chorus. After reapeting the chorus twice a heavy breakdown comes. First its slow and then gets faster and louder - very nice addition to the song. The instruments stop and then you hear a drum beat until the the song ends. An excellent intro song. (5/5)

Rip Out The Wings Of A Butterfly (3:29)
This is the first single off the album and a pretty catchy song. Linde starts out with one of his signature guitar intros and the intro is also played through out the entire song. A simple breakdown/interlude towards the middle of the song. Ville reapeatedly sings "Rip out the wings of a butterfly for your soul", which can sometimes get annoying, but at least he has a great voice IMO. (3.5/5)

Under The Rose (4:49)
This is one of my favorite HIM songs and is very unique to the album. It starts off with an excellent keyboard riff from Burton which is played through out most of the song. Some creative lyrics by Ville: "I've been burning in water and and drowning in flame to prove you wrong and scare you away." About 2:35 in the song Linde bursts out into a guitar solo that goes perfect with the song. Also inpressive drumming by Gas! (5/5)

Killing Loneliness (4:29)
This is the second single released off the album and you can obviously hear why. It starts with a nice piano intro and then non stop guitar work through the whole song. Mige's bass lines also stand out very well. Includes a heavy breakdown at about three quarters through the song then comes back to the chorus and a few verses and ends with the intro piano. (4.5/5)

Dark Light (4:30)
This is a very relaxing and feel-good song and is also one of two ballads off the album. Ville has a deeper tone of voice in this song than he usually does. A pretty interesing thirty second interlude in the middle of the song. The name of this song and album Dark Light really doesn't make a whole lot of sense, however i still enjoy this song. (4.5/5)

Behind The Crimson Door (4:37)
This is also one of my favorite HIM songs. Once again a high pitched guitar intro and then all of the instruments come into tune. Ville sings "set the darkest thoughts on fire and watch the ashes climb to heaven's gates" during the verses. After ville screams "Your love will be the death of me!" around 2:30 in the song a short guitar solo is followed by breakdown by Linde. A very good live song! (5/5)

Face Of God (4:35)
Starts out with some creepy sound affects then Gas comes in with a simple drum beat followed by Mige's bass then Linde's guitar, Burton playing a nice keyboard riff and finally Ville starts singing. - Excellent buildup. The chorus kind of gets repetitive and nothing stands out to much in this song, but the guitar work is fast and enjoyable. (3/5)

Drunk On Shadows (3:49)
Starts out with heavy distorted guitar and lastes pretty much through out the entire song. "Drunk on shadows and lost in life" is the key line throughout the song. This song I believe, is about a girl who is scared of the world, lost , and unsure about her life. (4/5)

Play Dead (4:36)
This is the next ballad off the album, and one of my favorite done by HIM. It starts off with a strange synth affect (well i'm not sure what it is but it sounds cool.) Play Dead is a song about how all the terrible things that are going on in the world today and are affecting him so he decides to "play dead" to hide himself away. A very nice ballad and is excellent to hear live. Ville sings with so much emotion. (4.5/5)

The Nightside Of Eden (5:40)
This song is probably one of the most heaviest performed by HIM. Some of the best lyrics on this album are on this song. Ville sings "we steal the fire from the sacred heart and bleed the wine unholy-we fall in love with the serpents song and fear nothing". it starts becoming eerie and really heavy around 4:20. Linde starts playing some really heavy riffs, and so does gas on the drums. After a while it slows down and Linde starts palm muting. At the end of the song in this really creepy voice says "Forever we are forever we've been forever we'll be crucified to a dream. A perfect way to end this album.

That was my second album review. I've also reviewed Love Metal also by HIM and will continue to write more reviews in the future. Feel free to leave comments about what you liked or disliked about my review and if i need improvement Thank you :) -Nightside



Recent reviews by this author
HIM Uneasy Listening Vol. 1HIM 666 Ways To Love: Prologue
HIM Deep Shadows And Brilliant HighlightsHIM Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666
HIM Razorblade RomanceHIM Love Metal
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Comments:Add a Comment 
Electric City
June 4th 2006


15756 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

These guys suck. Hard.

Nightside
June 4th 2006


102 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

um musicofficial101 can you even give me a few good reasons why they suck?? i mean you didnt even say anything besides that. Let me guess is it because of their image that you don't like them? well if you don't like how they sound or their image i can respect that, but that do have talent. They rock harder then a lot of bands you like-Greend Day, Weezer, TBS. Your an idiot - have you even seen any of thier live performences or even sat down and listened to to one of their albums?? Im not going to go on and on cause ive got better things to do. faggot

Electric City
June 4th 2006


15756 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

Good thing you didn't go on and on.



Their music is generic pop, and usually consists of faux-goth cheese. Saw em live, didn't change anything. They suck. And Weezer and TBS own your mom. Green Day's an old guilty pleasure of mine.This Message Edited On 06.04.06

Thor
June 4th 2006


10384 Comments


Nightside, that isn't exactly a good way to go about saying things.

And yes, this band is pretty terrible. Their songs are so incredibly generic and trite.

Steerpike
June 4th 2006


1861 Comments


um musicofficial101 can you even give me a few good reasons why they suck?? i mean you didnt even say anything besides that. Let me guess is it because of their image that you don't like them? well if you don't like how they sound or their image i can respect that, but that do have talent.


Okay, started out okay. Not the best way to handle it, but still pretty good.

They rock harder then a lot of bands you like-Greend Day, Weezer, TBS. Your an idiot - have you even seen any of thier live performences or even sat down and listened to to one of their albums?? Im not going to go on and on cause ive got better things to do. faggot


Jesus fucking Krypton...This Message Edited On 06.04.06

Electric City
June 5th 2006


15756 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

Steerpike, you consistently kick ass.

Honeymoon_Croon
June 5th 2006


297 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

Honestly, I can stand HIM every now and then. Even then, I can only stand half of this CD.

kno_kontrol
June 5th 2006


448 Comments


This album is pretty atrocious, but so is most of HIM's stuff. I dont like it at all, it lacks energy and songwriting chops.

Your review was just bad. You dont go into nearly enough detail, and fall into the pitfalls of everyone else's first review.

dvs
June 5th 2006


28 Comments

Album Rating: 1.5

The review was okay but this album is pretty terrible in my opinion as is all him material, I don't have any problem with the whole image although ville vallo seems to look more like a heroin addict every day. I guess this serves the purpose of entertaining 13yr olds but I hope they grow out of it and begin listening to something a bit more intelligent. The song writing by him is terrible as well have they ever wrote a song that isn’t some pathetic statement about love and then just thrown some crappy gothic imagery in with it.

Nightside
June 5th 2006


102 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

For dvs, ok i have many different tastes in music- the band HIM being my favorite. However i have over 120 CD's and im only 13 and i listen to many differnet styles of music and bands. Here is what i listen to:

HIM (His Infernal Majesty), Nirvana, Thrice, Ozzy Osbourne, Pearl Jam, Tool, When Skies Fall, Underoath, The 36 Crazyfists, The 69 Eyes, A Perfect Circle, AFI, AC/DC, Alexisonfire, Alice Cooper, Atreyu, The Rasmus, Nightwish, Atrocity, Audioslave, Advenged Sevenfold, Bad Religion, Bend Over, Big Wreck, The Black Keys, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Bloodhound Gang, Bullet For My Valentine, Bob Dylan(the lyric master), Children Of Bodom CKY, The Clash, Cold, Coldplay, Cradle Of Filth, Cream, Creed, Crossfade, The Cure, D-A-D, Daniel Lioneye and the Rollers, The Darkness The Datsuns, David Bowie, The Deftones, Demon Hunter, Depeche Mode, Disturbed, The Doors, Evanescence, Fireball Ministry, Foo Fighters, Funeral For A Friend, Garbage, Godsmack, Green Day, Guns N' Roses, Incubus, It Dies Today, Jan's Addiction, Jimi Hendrix Expierience, Jimmy Eat World, Kill Hannah, Killswitch Engage, Kiss, lacunal Coil, Led Zeppelin, Linkin Park, Live, Marilyn Manson, Metallica, Misfits, Motley Crue, Neil Young, Nine Inch Nails, NOFX, The Offspring, Pink Floyd, Rage Against the Machine, The Ramones, Rise Against, The Rolling Stones, Rob Zombie, Rush, The Screaming Trees, Silverchair, Slipknot, The Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Staind, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Tony D., The Tragically Hip, Trapt, Turbonegro, Type O' Negative, U2, the Used, Van Halen, Velvet Revolver, The White Stripes, The Von Bondies, The Who,and X.

I'm sure at least some of these bands appeal to you. - and if not then what kind of shitty music do you listen to? Um do you think any of these bands are "intelligent"? i believe that HIM is about gothic imagery and love. and they do call themselves love metal so it does make sense. I really think ville has some creative lyrics - maybe not all of them but yes he definantly doesThis Message Edited On 06.05.06

Brain Dead
June 5th 2006


1150 Comments


You should be punched in the mouth for putting CKY on there and not System of a Down. And also, this isn't the place to list your favorite bands. There is this sweet thing called a profile, you should really look into them.

Nightside
June 5th 2006


102 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

yea SOAD is a good band. that is sord of an old list that i made and copied and pasted on to here. i should of added some bands that i have recenlty been listening to even tho most of them are on there

tom79
June 5th 2006


3964 Comments


The Tragically Hip

YES! you must be Canadian, otherwise I was unaware they were known outside of Canada.

But yeah, you could have just put all those bands in your profile. Some good bands there though, but then theres Creed.

Electric City
June 5th 2006


15756 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

Lol, everyone has their guilty pleasure. GD ftw.

Steerpike
June 5th 2006


1861 Comments


I'm sure at least some of these bands appeal to you. - and if not then what kind of ****ty music do you listen to? Um do you think any of these bands are "intelligent"? i believe that HIM is about gothic imagery and love. and they do call themselves love metal so it does make sense. I really think ville has some creative lyrics - maybe not all of them but yes he definantly does


You really need to lose that hostile attitude. You need to grow up and realize that your taste is not superior to anyone just because you're operating under some delusion about the "intelligence" of the bands you listen to.

HIM is a pseudo-goth rock band with an uber-pretentious lead singer who writes lyrics riddled with bad cliches. You can still listen to them if you want, but stop trying to make them out to be more than they are.This Message Edited On 06.05.06

Electric City
June 5th 2006


15756 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

I'd call HIM more of a faux-goth band. Chill dude, just because your favorite band sucks is no reason to get all Mr. T on our arse.

Nightside
June 5th 2006


102 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

ok maybe im being a bit harsh, however HIM does not suck. There definantly much better then a lot of crappy pop-punk bands that you see on MTV and if you cant agree to at least that then you are taking the goth image to seriously.



Tom79, actually i'm not Canadian, although i went to the blues fest in Ottawa, Canada a few years ago and saw the Tragically Hip. Which are a pretty good band except the singer's strong Canadian excent lol. Oh and Creed well i dont like them nearly as much as they used to. The singer is way to into himself.

Brain Dead
June 5th 2006


1150 Comments


Somehow, being better than crappy pop-punk bands on MTV isn't that great of a compliment.

Bron-Yr-Aur
June 5th 2006


4405 Comments


Eh. I'd say they're about the same.

Electric City
June 5th 2006


15756 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

Yeah AAR's got some good shit. Blow live, though.


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