Niki N. Phaser

              With their seventh album, HIM are continuing their zig-zag journey through the sonic worlds of love and doom, this time hitting more on the first side (it’s catchy and singalong as the beginning of a new fling). It was expected since their previous album, Venus Doom, was as dark and heavy as could be (maybe except Bleed Well, which would have suited their new album better). To declare yourself totally disappointed with their latest offering would mean that you are a half-fan, since there has always been a pop/metal bilocation in their music. There are some changes in their sound, which bring HIM closer to an American brand of their love metal. Considering that they hired Matt Squire to produce, this new dimension is by no means an accident, but it’s still unclear if Screamworks is the price they had to pay for Venus Doom, or if it is the other way around.

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The thing with Dead by Sunrise is that you can either listen to it as Chester Benington’s side-project and compare it to Linkin Park, you can also listen to it as Julien-K without Ryan Shuck on vocals, or you can clear your mind of all these faces and names and enjoy a new rock band. And, truth be told, it’s not at all difficult to enjoy Dead by Sunrise’s debut album, Out of the Ashes. The overall feeling you get from this first studio effort by these guys, is that you are listening to some classic rock’n'roll album, something old school, but still alive and kicking. Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell is the first thing that comes to mind, but Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet is not too far either. I’m not entering sound issues when mentioning these albums. I’m just trying to say that Out of the Ashes has everything you would want from a rock album. It might not become your favourite, but you will respect it.

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…suffice to say that Muse were never “the cool band to like right now”, they never made trendy music but managed in the decade since their first album’s (Showbiz) release to become an important name in modern rock history. Maybe it’s because, unlike, for example, the current army of new bands with the same haircut and the same music, Muse became a band because they had a musical vision they needed to express and not just to be cooler than the other kids from their high school. And, in the future, when they’ll close the books, The Resistance will be a chapter that holds its piece to Origin of Symmetry or Absolution.

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