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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              HIM premiered their new video, Heartkiller, on MySpace this Friday, where it quickly became the most watched video for the day. This is the Love-Metallers first single off of their highly anticipated new album, Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, which will be released next month. Embracing a more poppy sound, Heartkiller might just do the trick Ville Valo has hoped for every first single in the past: it gives a taste of the new direction, while still comforting worried fans. A definite departure from the ‘dirty’ sound of Venus Doom, this new material features a resurrection of the more synthy nuances of Dark Light and Razorblade Romance, as Valo himself admits.

The James Copeman (Razorlight, Mystery Jets) directed video features the band in a dark setting, with some flashes of their taxidermied power animals overlapping from time to time. Of course, this is also a chance for Valo to ‘premiere’ his new tattoos, of Maya Deren and Klaus Kinski. Overall, Heartkiller is a decent song, not more, but it does the job: it states that HIM are up and running once again.

HEARTKILLER

HIM are taking the first steps into the promo frenzy of their next album, Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice. So far, the tracklisting has been revealed and with titles like Love, the Hardest Way, Heartkiller, Ode to Solitude or The Foreboding Sense Of Impending Happiness, fans of the Finnish idols shouldn’t have a lot to worry about, but plenty to be siked about. As previously reported, the release date (for US) will be around Valentine’s Day, February 9, to be more exact. Then, we will witness the practice of HIM’s Screamworks. Still, fans will get a taste of the new material this year, a single being expected in mid December.

Early reports and interviews hint at a more accessible, hit-friendly album. Metal Hammer’s exclusive first review of the album suggests that the Matt Squire produced effort is a considerable departure from 2007’s Venus Doom, which was Ville Valo’s intention in the first place. Lyrically, it seems that this time around, in the old ecuation of love and death, the pulsating variable of sex plays a major role. Check the band’s official site for Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice artwork.