Razorblade Romance - H.I.M's first listenable album. 666 sounded like it was recorded for $1000. I've heard better demos on cassette tape, so I won't even review 666.

The album has some really good songs, but the recording quality leaves something to be desired. Has three songs that stand out - "Gone With the Sin," "Death is in Love With Us," and "One Last Time." If you can stomach shoddy recordings, you might like this album. The melodies are quite good, and I've known more than my share of hot young babes into it.

Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights - H.I.M's lightest album, but also my favorite. A great album to share a bubble bath and a bottle of wine to. Other than the weak "Don't Close Your Heart," it's a near perfect album. In fact, "Love You Like I Do" is mine and Mrs. Zombieslayer's song. One of my favorite albums of all-time.

Love Metal - The band followed their lightest album by their heaviest. This is my second favorite album of theirs, although it only has two killer songs in "Funeral of Hearts" and "The Path." The rest of the album is just good.

Dark Light - Their best selling album in the U.S., H.I.M went more commercial. With only two guitar solos and no extended instrumental parts, the band besides Valo never did get a chance to show off how good of musicians they are. Melodies are nice, but only one song is killer - "Play Dead."

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I did a separate review of Venus Doom, their latest album that I bought on the first weekend of its release. Here ya go...

H.I.M is back with a vengeance. Sort of. It's definitely a heavy album for H.I.M.

Venus Doom is their 6th studio album, released here in the States on September 18, 2007. It's their heaviest album to date, even heavier (well, for H.I.M) than Love Metal. Most songs have at least one guitar solo (so glad they brought those back, an element that was missing from Dark Light.

The songs are longer and darker, with a few songs having suicide as the primary subject. The album cover is downright hideous, and instead of typed lyrics, you get sloppy handwritten ones. Okay, I admit that might appeal to a thirteen-year-old girl but it doesn't do it for me.

The Songs

01. Venus Doom 5:08 - opening song. Good Metal piece with a choral vocal line resembling Elvis' "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You."

02. Love in Cold Blood 5:54 - Cool opening riff. The opening riff is catchy and I find myself hearing it again in my head for hours after I hear the song. This is the first song I heard Valo belt out a genuine, non-singing scream. Then it goes right into a roaring guitar solo by Linde. Awesome.

03. Passion's Killing Floor 5:10 - I assume they'll use this one for a single. Follows the conventional verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus setup, but then gets unique. No guitar solo though.

04. The Kiss of Dawn 5:54 - Linde rips a killer wah wah solo in this one. It's a melodic metal piece, a little bit softer than the previous three songs.

05. Sleepwalking Past Hope 10:02 - Needless to say, this is the longest song on the album. The thing is, it doesn't drag like songs this long often do. It's beat wise slower and not very heavy. Halfway through the song, it slows down to a near stop and Valo's voice gets really deep. It would sound horrible done by most other vocalists, but Valo pulls it off. But then again, Valo's a stud, as we all know. After slowing down, it goes through a heavy part again with Linde blazing through an eight bar solo, then right back into the regular
song.

06. Dead Lovers' Lane 4:28 - This song kicks ass! Good choice to have for a single from this album. Sounds like a Dark Light song except for with a kickin' Linde guitar solo and Gas' fast beat near the end.

07. Song or Suicide 1:10 - Acoustic piece with just acoustic guitar and Ville singing. A song about, what else? Suicide.

08. Bleed Well 4:24 - The best song on the album! I love this song. The best part of the album is when it goes from Song or Suicide to this. When you hear it, you'll know what I mean.

09. Cyanide Sun 5:54 - Two awesome metal albums I can think of off the top of my head that end in a waltz - this one, and Black Sabbath's The Mob Rules. I love to see Metal bands end albums in waltzes. For those who know me, I'm all about the waltz.

Overall - Good to see Linde more involved, but we do hear less Burton, who I really like as well. A more guitar oriented album, and a good direction they took for I didn't like the pop direction Dark Light took, although don't get me wrong, I do like that album. I just didn't want to see them going
that direction.

So, better than Dark Light, not as good as Deep Shadows, about equal to Love Metal. This CD will be in my car for quite awhile.