Love Metal Review

Released: Apr 22, 2003
Genre: Rock
Number Of Tracks: 10

Sound:	9
Lyrics:	8.8
Impression:	9
Overall rating:	8.9
Users rating:	9.3
Comments:	6

overall: 9.7

Featured review by: Zlatorok7, on july 09, 2007

Sound: All music scenes and styles evolve over time and the gothic scene of today looks more to rock and metal than the punk and dance of it's forebears. Along with such bands as Evanescence and Nightwish, HIM seem to have retained the best of past and present, the drive and power of hard rock and the emotive passion of old school goth. Buried Alive by Love fires up the album with a full on metal guitar riff, powered on by a hard drum attack and solid bass. What is refreshing and obvious almost immediately is that every player has space in the production to be heard and the vocals come over clearly. Too man albums today seem to be a free for all and the result is a lack of clarity in the production. The singer, Ville, seems to be singing from the same hymn sheet as the likes of Wayne Hussey and Julianne Regan from all those years ago. The subject matter is all very windswept and romantic, it's fantasy in the extreme, a modern take on the language of the gothic romances of regency England, but give me escapism over the realities of life any day, who wants to hear about cars and girls, guns and attitude when you can be swept into a lost world for the duration of the album. As this power house of an opening number dies it's replaced with the gentle strumming of a guitar, which on closer inspection might even be a Mandolin (hurrah from me) and the singers dulcet tones waxing whimsical before it too goes all heavy metal on you. After a big start Funeral of Hearts settles down to some rhythmic guitar work and some nice intricate lead riffs weaving through before kicking back into a big chorus. it's only a mid paced song but knows how to do the epic well, this is music that will go down well in the stadium, club or car. // 10

Lyrics and Singing: Beyond Redemption wafts in with some strange keyboard sounds, before getting up and running. The language as always is that unrequited love, tearstained kisses and forbidden desires. it's difficult to tell exactly what they are trying to tell you on many of the songs and that they probably use this sort of dialogue even when they are doing the shopping or fixing the car, but it is exactly right for the music and image of the band. Ville himself has the look of a predatory heartbreaker and after seeing the band in action you can hardly imagine anyone else fronting this band. Sweet Pandemonium is a more laid back and swaying candles in the air type of thing. The power of the guitars is kept in check by the inclusion of an acoustic guitar and the song uses it's own dynamic to create the peaks and troughs required to turn the song around. With Soul On Fire we are back with the faster thrashier intro which eventually drops off leaving the bass and drums to carry the song behind the vocals, before it powers up to power through the chorus. Some of the songs, and this is probably my only main criticism of the album do tend to follow a bit of a formula. That's not to say that they are not good songs, it's just that they tend to follow similar lines, but there is nothing wrong with knowing what it is you want do and then doing it well. By complete contrast The Sacrament opens with a solo piano riff which, even once the song reaches it's higher gear, stays at the heart of the melody. it's this use of piano to take the songs along a different plane that helps to set this band apart from some of the other bands operating in this genre. Fortress of Tears is a good example of this, piano and voice create a ballad feeling to some parts of the song which is set against epic rock anthem styling. By the time you get to the next two songs they sound a bit predictable, as I said before not bad songs, in fact songs that many bands would love to have penned, it's just that in the context of the rest of the album they give you nothing new compared with what has gone before.

The Path is the final track and is one of the most passionate on the album and it seems to be a seven minute distillation of everything that the band dose best. A melancholy piano lilts into the picture, drums kick in and the guitars set up an epic wall of noise and as it all falls away the piano is left, this time with a pained and heart wrenching voice to keep it company. This song builds and falls until it leaves you stranded in a place of wailing guitar solos and howling keyboards before leaving you back in the emotive tones of the voice and piano again only to build and play out on the storm of guitars. Then as if sensing that it has plucked the heart strings enough, it ends dead. // 9

Impression: There are lots of flavours mixed in this album, along side the ones mentioned, and they are the most obvious, bands such as Orion, Black Sabbath and even classical pieces all have their chance to colour the music. It is an album for old school goths, metalers and rockers alike. It's not overly original in places but a better collection of songs is not easily found. Give it a try, there is something for everyone. // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on june 06, 2005

Sound: The sound on love metal is the perfect balance between the sharper rock sound of "Razorblade..." and the pop acoustic sound of "Deep Shadows..." There are acoustic guitars but it doesn't kill the song like on their last album. The keys and piano make a bit of a gothic atmosphere but that's what HIM is all about. Heavy riffs combine with dreamy sounds and create the perfectly balanced HIM sound. Being from Finland, it's hard to compare the sound to any other band but you get a sense of Sisters Of Mercy here. // 10

Lyrics and Singing: Again, it's all about love, which suits HIM very well and Ville takes the subject from every angle possible. Ville's more of a poet than most singers out there and this makes the lyrics way more appealing. Ville has one of the best voices in rock right now by a long long way and he is prefectly complimented by the music on this record. // 10

Impression: This is a massive step on from HIM's previous offerings (especially "Greatest Love Songs...") it's more melodic than the first two records but much more heavier than their last one. The songs are more memorable, the best being album highlight "Funeral Of Hearts", "Beyond Redemption" and the kinda groovy "Endless Dark". The slight let down is the closing track "The Path" but this doesn't shodow the album's greatness and the fact that this is HIM's best album to date. // 10

overall: 10

Reviewed by: sk8r_boi, on march 07, 2006

Sound: The sound of this HIM album is like every other. Wonderful! The punding guitar riffs and piano makes it sound unique and original. I own every HIM album and none of them are like this. This CD has the best sound out of them all. "The Sacrament" has a beauitiful intro as so does "The Path." // 10

Lyrics and Singing: Ville Valo's writing is like no other. He sings all about love, life, and death so much, but it never gets boring. It just gets better and better with every album. This album has the most poetic songs out of all 6 albums. That is what I love about Ville and his writing. // 10

Impression: There is no other band in the world I love as much as HIM. So I most definately wouldn't hate anything about this album. I love every bit of it. From the beginning to the last second. The best song on the album has to be "Fortress Of Tears." It has so much feeling put into it, as every othere song. Out of ten, this album gets a 100! // 10

overall: 8.7

Reviewed by: kryptonite22, on april 08, 2004

Sound: HIM are essentially a mix of grunge and nu-metal. If you ever see them live or watch a recorded performance, you'll notice how much the bass really growls beneath the guitar. It's a very dark sound, but not one I would describe as gothic. Although I had heard earlier songs by HIM, this was the first album of theirs I bought, and I wasn't disappointed. There's plenty of variety - fast, slow, loud, quiet, heavy - and the added sounds of the keyboard over the top is very haunting and distinctive. // 10

Lyrics and Singing: The lyrics are fairly predictable, and all follow the same themes. That said, they are all well thought out and effective, and so the fact that they are fairly similar does not pose a huge problem. There are also some clever one-liners, such as "To die is to know that you're alive" (in "Buried Alive By Love"). Overall, despite the unadventurous nature of some of the lyrics, they are pretty good. Ville Valo has a good voice also, which he uses to great effect, singing both high and low on a number of occasions. // 8

Impression: It's a brilliant album, and one that gets better every time you hear it. It would be hard to compare HIM to other artists, but if you mixed Evanescence with Black Sabbath and added a touch of Nirvana, you probably wouldn't be too far wrong. I love the dark theme of the album, and the way in which every song has clearly been carefully worked on until it sounds just right. I would definitely buy it again. The key songs are "Sweet Pandemonium", "Soul On Fire", "The Funeral of Hearts", "The Sacrament" and "Buried Alive By Love". // 8

overall: 9.7

Reviewed by: myampgoesto11, on march 06, 2006

Sound: HIM has always had this gothic-metal sound, and this album takes it up a notch. The pianist seems to be working twice as hard as their last albums. And the added effect of the acoustic guitar doesn't ruin it. HIM has been one of my all-time favorite bands because of their sound alone. Sweet Pandemonium gives you a feeling that it sort of sounds like older bands, and easily makes it way to #1. Nothing in any of these songs sounds forced, and sound like it belongs. // 10

Lyrics and Singing: Ville has tremendous skill, and will forever remain to me one of the best vocalist I have ever heard. HIM has always sung lyrics that have a romantic twist to them, which is one reason it seperates it self from rest of the metal scene. There really isn't much more for me to say, aside from the fact that a little more songs with faster lyrics would be nice. // 9

Impression: When I think of the goth-metal scene, I think of HIM. It is not to gothic, but not to metal-ish. It seems to be just enough of both. The most impressive songs are probably, in my opinion, Sweet Pandemonium, Soul On Fire, Buried Alive By Love, and The Sacrament for their music alone. The Sacrament seems to be the most musically talented song of the bunch. Though there is not enough songs on this album, it's definalty worth $15. If it were stolen, I'd kick the idiot of stole it to death, I'd buy it again if I had to. // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on june 06, 2005

Sound: The sound of this album is classic HIM, but has a bit of there new sound (what is featured is Deep Shadows Brilliant Highlights) and they have a uniqueness all their own - no one could possible copy them! // 8

Lyrics and Singing: The lyrics are pure poetry! They hardly repeat any of their lines (which I happen to love) but inside the slip cover, I find the print really hard to read. The lyrics tell so much about their expeirances what they have gone through, it alows you to imagine them in a situation similar to one like the song. // 10

Impression: This album I would say is one of my best, besides Rasorblade Romance, and lost prophets wake up, but if had to rate it, it would definatly be a 4. // 8

overall: 9.3

Reviewed by: f**k the system, on february 26, 2004

Sound: This is H.I.M's 5th album and the only one of there albums available in the u.k. without import.

In my opinion H.I.M music sounds like a mixture of 2 music types goth and metal but also includes a bit of romance into the lyrics. The sound of the album is quite unique from the slow-burning sound of "The funeral of hearts" to the hyper-active sound of "Soul on fire" to the brilliant piano intro to "The sacrament". // 8

Lyrics and Singing: As i said before the album is made of 2 music types goth and metal so you should't be surprised when you hear the line "I see your scars - I know where they're from - so sensually carved and bleeding until you're dead and gone" from track 3 "Beyond redemption".

But the again it does have it's kinda romantic lyrics such as "this fortress ont fall-I've built it strong for you" on track 7 "this fortress of tears".

So at the end the lyrics are quite gothy but do have a sense of love in them just not the kind of love you expect to hear on a Atomic kitten cd. // 10

Impression: In my opinion this was the best album of 2003. Why? Because the mixture of goth and metal music sounds brilliant. Probably the most impressive songs of the album are "The sacrament", "Endless dark" and "Soul on fire".

The thing I hate most about this album is that there is only 10 tracks and the thing I love most about this album is that these 10 tracks are brilliant and don't have any errors on them.

If this album was stolen I would find the little tramp and kick the holy hell out of HIM. But if I could't find I would easily buy this album again because it truly is worth it for £10. I recommend this album to people who have heard the singles from this album and like it. I don't recommend this album to people who expect the album to sound like Iron Maiden or Metallica (even though both those bands kick-ass and truly are the gods of metal.) // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on july 20, 2004

Sound: If youre a Him fan, I'm sure youve heard Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666 and then you hear this cd. I have to say I was very dissapointed by the sound. I feel thats its really stepping into pop territory and far away by the heavy metal roots of their debut. Every cd they release seems to go softer and softer. Nothing anymore has the heaviness of Wicked Game. // 6

Lyrics and Singing: Valo seems to be losing his talent, but their best song was a cover anyways. Wicked Game was amazing, but then again their first cd was a flat out masterpiece. But they lyrics do fit into the poppyness of some of the songs, so I guess theyre just going along with what they do. // 4

Impression: I wasnt as dissapointed with this cd as I was with Deep Shadows And Brilliant Highlights. This music is branded as heavy metal, but it has soo many hooks and melodies it seems liek theyre Guns And Roses. Lets hope Valo doesn't become the next Axl Rose. But then again Valo promised to be harder on their next cd, so I await that one. I hope they return to their roots of Greatest Love Songs. // 6

Comments

[sk8r_boi]

Ville is SOOO not losing his talent you dipsh!t. You're probably just writing it to say HIM sux. You probably f#@%ing don't listen to them at all, you just look at lyrics and write about them. POSER!

[mcr'slover4life]

villie is so f-ing hott!

[ffafrule]

How dare u say ville is losing his talent u unworthy peece of ****

[fezaan66]

this is a sweet album. 10 great tracks.

[Fly-swatter]

Beyond Redemption kicks ass! I dont know why was never released as a single... but still an awesome album track!

[[x]Huffy[x]]

Great album.