Review of Venus Doom
I'll put this under a cut, so anybody who hasn't heard it yet and wants their listening experience of it to be unfettered by my opinion can avoid it.
I'll start off with an issue that many people had with Dark Light and that was simply that it was not heavy enough. For months, now, Ville has been promising that Venus Doom would be much heavier and much rawer than its predecessor. He has, for the most part, kept his word. So if you are hoping for something heavy (by HIM standards, anyway), this will not disappoint.
However, upon listening, I found that it doesn't matter that it's heavier, in places. At certain points, it's lighter and more upbeat than HIM have ever been, before, I think. Only in sound, though.
The lyrics are as poetically dark as ever. A couple of weeks ago I sneaked a peak at the words for a couple of songs. I was underwhelmed, I have to say. Of course, I think Valo surpassed himself with the lyrics to Play Dead. Upon listening to them, though, it's clear that Valo's words are to be listened to, not read.
But this isn't a repeat of Dark Light, Love Metal, Greatest Love Songs 666 or any of the others, so if you're expecting a return to the particular sound of any of these albums, you're going to be a little disappointed. As with all the previous albums, there's a slight twist to the HIM-sound, but this time it's as if Valo has perfected it.
I will go through the playlist individually, but I have to listen to it a bit more.
I'll start off with an issue that many people had with Dark Light and that was simply that it was not heavy enough. For months, now, Ville has been promising that Venus Doom would be much heavier and much rawer than its predecessor. He has, for the most part, kept his word. So if you are hoping for something heavy (by HIM standards, anyway), this will not disappoint.
However, upon listening, I found that it doesn't matter that it's heavier, in places. At certain points, it's lighter and more upbeat than HIM have ever been, before, I think. Only in sound, though.
The lyrics are as poetically dark as ever. A couple of weeks ago I sneaked a peak at the words for a couple of songs. I was underwhelmed, I have to say. Of course, I think Valo surpassed himself with the lyrics to Play Dead. Upon listening to them, though, it's clear that Valo's words are to be listened to, not read.
But this isn't a repeat of Dark Light, Love Metal, Greatest Love Songs 666 or any of the others, so if you're expecting a return to the particular sound of any of these albums, you're going to be a little disappointed. As with all the previous albums, there's a slight twist to the HIM-sound, but this time it's as if Valo has perfected it.
I will go through the playlist individually, but I have to listen to it a bit more.