Sounds like a skeleton having a wank in a tin can!!!

Well, for starters i have been a die hard fan for 7 years now since the musical brilliance of ‘Love Metal’ was released, and i have to say i’m not sure about this one.
The easiest way i can do this is in Possitive and negative parts:

The possitive:
Ville and Co have focussed very much in the past of lonliness, heartbreak and dispair. All signifiers of the ‘Love Metal’ genre. But this time round i think ville has realised that that formula is getting boring and ’samey’. So this time round he seems to have unearthed albums from the 1980’s, with a significant hint of Deepech mode embedded throughout. You could be confussed at times to believe that this was a deepeche mode tribute act.
Now that ville has become sober, he seems to have perked up a bit and not become so depressive. Even though the song titles are still very melancholic and, some might say ‘emo’ there is a hell of a lot of beat and fast tempos in this album, which could turn a tragedy almost into an adrenaline rush. Don’t wanna hear ‘The arms of Rain’ or ‘Ode to Solitude’ on speed.
There is not one song i want to skip and all have a blissfully unique sound and riffs that will keep them fresh in your minds for months to come.

The Negatives:
Iam not sure that the direction the sound of the album is going in is a good one. It’s certainly different, with a lot of Drum and bass beats included, almost sounds like they want to appeal to the clubbing masses in places. Is it goth? is it alternative clubbing music? I say its more the latter.
I have always said to myself ‘I wish HIM would make a love metal 2′ but boy, this isn’t it. This is far from it. Yes it might be americanised, but ‘Dark Light’ still appeals to the HIM/goth fanbases, whereas this isn’t HIM as we used to know them.
Some might say that HIMs music, and indeed Ville Valo, could mature like a fine wine, but this album is more like milk; tastes really good fresh and it is refreshing, but after a while it goes sour and you just want to throw it away.

Conclusion:
The album is really vibrant and we see a side to ville we never knew existed but is this really what love metal means to us or has the band thats created ‘Greatest lovesongs volume 666′ and ‘Razorblade Romance’ sold out to the states? My answer is watch out New York he’s looking for appartments

…
BASICALLY all you non-him fans pre-concieved notions of HIM should be forgotten because this album is completly different than the others.

I think that this album is one of the most adventurous, exciting, undulating HIM records to date. The song Scared To Death is probably my second favourite song of 2010 so far (Begging For Mercy by BFMV is 1st).
Everyone i have played this album to has fallen in love with it, so a massive hi 5 to HIM for screamworks.

It’s a bit poppy, I preferred Venus Doom. But this one is pretty solid and the last track, along with the awesome Heartkiller are just incredible.
However I’m not allowed to like them seeing as they aren’t metal.

“Sounds like a skeleton having a wank in a tin can!!!” -veazey

I love the new album. I love the 80s vibe it has, although I don’t really like how American it sounds (Dark Light all over again). But Ville said he wanted it to sound American anyway, otherwise they wouldn’t have hired Matt Squire… still a very very good offering, probably the best since Razorblade, at least for me. Makes me want another heartagram tattoo.

@jay HIM statistically havent sold out. Roadrunner a few minutes ago released screamworks’s sales. It sold 26000 and is no. 25 on the charts. Venus doom sold 38000 and was no. 12 on the charts.

My opinion is that HIM have lost far more fans than they have gained with this album.

The new album is amazing in many ways, yes very different from the previous albums, but so are the guys and especially Ville. This album is more personal and more hopeful than the others have been, and it cant be forgotten that Ville is in a totally different spot in his life at this moment than before. He is a new lifesituation, he’s older, he’s more mature, his thinking is different, so that is why the music is in need of being different too. But all in all the true HIM essence is still there, Ville is doing amazing vocals, and the rest of the guys do brilliant musically. I think this album represents Ville and HIM in a new and very exciting way, and if listening carefully to the lyrics, its all about how Ville feels of the direction his life has taken and what he hopes for in the future, the ghost of the past are still around, but they are now being pushed back abit !
I have been a HIM fan for as long as I can remember, and this is a brilliant album in every single way , it is so good, I have trouble choosing a favorite song, they’re all so great ! I love all the previous work too, but this shows that musicians also have the need to take a look at their life and do some adjustments, the album clearly states that. Ville and HIM have my total respect for delivering a strong, new and different kind of album , in my mind – perfection !!

um…Sometimes I wish we would turn back to Razorblade Romance and Love Metal.
I’ll tell u this, man.
Since they moved out from Sony Music and joined Warner, their music sucks.
From Dark Light, which I don’t know what they were thinking..To Screamworks blah blah blah..
Now, I’m a HIM’s fan. But really, I wish I’d never said my bf to buy me this cd as a Valentine’s gift…. Nah… I really regret it..

More in details –>
The drums are so easy, that u easily fall asleep. What is this “magic” fairy keyboard thing? If u listen carefully to the song, is like they were in kind of hurry to finish playing each song.
Where is this beautiful melancholic sort of “Heartless” like? Or their biggest hit “Join Me In Death”?I don’t like him to scream all the time, or add back vocals constantly. I want clean voice. Romantic.
I’m gonna have to say, PLEASE SOMEBODY tell them to go back to SONY MUSIC!

U know, when his songs where mostly known in Europe, the songs where amazing as I told before. Bam Margera took him really fast to the US and ruined his music.

Or maybe, now that he got all the money he needed, there’s no need to actually push himself think of something more creative. They just do it to do it. And that’s all..

A dissapointed fan…

very evry good album been a HIM fan for a long long time and this album made me very happy i was at london garage on valentines day was the most amazing gig ever !!!!!!

I quite enjoyed the album but it didn’t have quite the effect that their previous two records did. It seems like an attempt to push HIM more into the mainstream rock genre meaning that their music almost entirely loses it’s doom type feel and is much more pop based. The album is not terrible but i fear it is a step in the wrong direction that will lead towards one of the more unique current bands moving into the “another one of those” category.

Fucking brilliant album, on par with love metal and dark light and much better than Venus Doom, which was terrible

i love HIM but i’m not what to make of this album, it is a bit too pop for me, i’m just going to have to keep listening to it and see if it grows on me but so far i prefer the last album so much more.

I didn’t think it could get better than Venus Doom…but this new album is incredible! Hopefully it won’t be their last Dying song is my favorite song on the album.

I think it’s an excellent record. Matt Squire’s production is top quality. Linde’s guitar tone is the best it’s been in ages; nice and clean. When Hillesmaa is producing, Linde’s guitar is always too distorted.

Songwriting is spot on as well. Scared to Death and Katherine Wheel need to be singles. The lyrics are really well written with some real stand-out lines. Great attention to detail as always Mr Valo.

Still can’t see why everyone thinks Venus Doom was terrible. That whole record was a fantastic piece of progged-up doom with a pop-rock flare to it. Probably the most challenging and exciting HIM record to date.

It’s pure shite.

I think Screamworks is fantastic, and HIM’s best album yet. It’s great that the music and lyrics are upbeat and about how great it is to be in love, not the despondency, depression and melancholy that Ville used to sing about. I especially love the overt chorus of Scared To Death and the atmospheric synths of the album’s final song. A great record from start to finish.

Screamworks is very different from other HIM albums, true…but it is still a HIM album, through and through…the songs are good, solid rock songs…I love it. “Scared to Death” and “Katherine Wheel” are my favorites…their choruses are as infectious as the swine flu, ffs…you can’t help but sing along…I get what Valo was saying..that this album is uplifting melancholy…you tap your foot and bob your head and want to dance, even though he’s singing about Cupid’s mausoleum and lifting lids off caskets and such…love the lyrics…Ville is brilliant…so verbally talented…that’s one of the reasons I love HIM…it is rock music for thinking persons…not just blah, blah, oh yeah, baby, blah blah…the lyrics are elusive and allusive…very smart. Ville Valo is a hard-working, brilliantly talented musician. He deserves all the success and accolades that I sincerely hope this album gets.

what happens when a tree falls on a woman?

more to the point wtf is a tree doing in the kitchen?

I admit I miss those old HIM’s dirty sounds, I am listening to the new album and even it sounds a little poppy I like it. In the music industry is easy to find bands doing the same thing all the time. And some of those hard rude metal bands say nothing new, SOME are really repetitive, so please if you don’t have anything constructive to say just shut up. Saying something is shit, only shows you don’t have any intelligent thing to say, nor ideas to support something so sense empty. Some comments show how macho men you are.
Coming back to the point, I guess they were really risky with this album, but some sounds remind me to the HIM from razorblade romance. Linde’s guitar is simply great…I love the lyrics, the way Mr Valo uses words is one of the reasons that makes me like this band, besides is interesting to find intertexts you see Valo is not only talented but a judicious reader too. Is a happier album, more hopeful than Venus Doom (that with Greatest Love songs is my favorite) Right now, I think Ode to Solitude is my preferred one, but I just got the album yesterday, so…. maybe tomorrow I’ll have another favorite one.
I just hope they don’t lose that scandinavian richness not only in the music, or words, but in the atmospheres they created with those far, unknown, doomy, dark sounds that I love so much and that make them unique. HIM’s music is not for all ears, but for selected ones

This is an album for the educated. I absolutely adore this album. Lyrically Ville Valo is the best in the business. It’s an album with intelligence and passion. The vocals are incredible and the band is top notch. HIM never disappoints. You never know what the next album will bring. Congratulations to them for an amazing album and always venturing outside of the box. Well done gentleman!

I love the new album just like I have loved them since the beginning. @Ellen It’s hard to believe a true HIM fan would wait until Valentine’s Day to get the album, and if everyone would get the special edition, it comes with an entire acoustic version of the album. It gives it more of an old HIM sound. I don’t get everyone saying it’s poppy. I doubt Brittany or Hinder are rocking out to it right now.

I’ve been listening to HIM since introduced by a friend to them some 8 or 9 years ago.

In my opinion it is a fantastic album. Excellent reversion to the days of Razorblade Romance/Deep Shadows without the reliance of the old structures. In other words, Screamworks encompasses everything I loved about the older albums, whilst moving into a newer/fresher sound. Admittedly, it is more poppy than their previous offerings. However, it’s a welcome diversification.

I’ve had it on loop on my iPod since I bought it. Absolutely fantastic.

It seems in this thread (and others) that those who leave negative comments sought an album that reproduced the classic HIM, verbatim. What’s the point in that!?

Progression my friends. Embrace it. =P

To suggest that HIM/Valo aren’t/isn’t ‘trying’ is preposterous. You think the band would risk their reputation after the lesser accepted Venus Doom (which I also loved btw) with a second class offering?!

9/10 Easily. Catchy tunes, meaningful lyrics and intoxicating melodies. Ticks all my boxes.

I agree with Cat. Ville is the best in the business. There is not one song on “Screamworks” that lacks the things that Valo does best: ardent, emotive lyrics, tunes that stretch and turn and change just when you think you’ve heard the whole song, a sensuous vitality, and the fiery touch that keeps the songs in your heart and mind long after the music has been turned off. Like all HIM albums, every song is memorable and with his incredibly skilled and devoted band, Ville Valo has created what should most definitely be the Album of the Year.

I’m still making my mind up about this album. There are many things I adore about HIM – the intelligent lyrics, the love of a good melody, their ability to mix 80s style goth with many different elements of metal to their own innovative effect and the fact that every album is going to be different. I admire the fact that they have the balls to stand up and say this is our Love Metal and to Hell with it. Ville said in his latest interview with Metal Hammer that he understands metal and he truly does. The essence of Sabbath permeates through everything they do and you can hear influences from bands like Cathedral, Paradise Lost and Type O Negative there in the mix.

But, I was at the gig at the Garage in London on Sunday night and it’s telling that the songs I enjoyed best were the older ones and not the new material. Screamworks makes me smile when I listen to it, I hear the hair metal I grew up with and the whip-smart vibe is so there. The songs are very good but I wonder what the album would have been like with a non American producer and a non American record company. I know I’m not the only fan to think this way. My first HIM albums were Love Metal and Dark Light and I remember playing them to utter death and finding something different every time. This CD doesn’t grab me in that way. It’s good, but not truly great…it’s like the thing that would make the album stunning is missing, and I can only put that down to the production. I absolutely loved Venus Doom. Perhaps this album was meant to be the flipside considering everything Ville has been through recently.

I’m going to see the band in Manchester, Edinburgh and Newcastle in March and I welcome three more chances to hear an ever evolving and never disappointing band up close and personal. I can’t wait.

I LOVE Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice! Shatter Me With Hope is my favorite track, but they are ALL fantastic! Can’t wait to see the band LIVE in Houston in April.

It’s so complex that all I can do is tag along gasping. Surprisingly all those songs with slow tempo can also make the heart beat fast. I feel satisfied.

I think Screamworks is gorgeous. Well written, beautifully played, lyrically sound. HIM has done it again… thank you, gentlemen.

I love the album!!! great job!!!

I absolutely LOVE this album and can’t stop listening to it. In my opinion, this is one of the best albums I have heard in a long time; I love the direction that HIM have taken, and can’t wait to hear the songs live. Well done guys!

i think that the new album is very good,
the band have grown and matured in many ways and this shows on the album.

Bravo, gentlemen! Screamworks is a work of sheer brillance. I haven’t anticipated an album like this in ages and the boys did not disappoint. Linde’s guitar work is stunning. Ville’s vocals are the stuff dreams are made out of. And the lyrics! What can I say?! One cannot be stupid and enjoy this album. There should be a warning label on this one: Intelligence required to appreciate this piece of art.

I love all the albums and I appreciate and understand them in the context and the time period that they were created. I love Venus Doom, but thank the stars that the guys are still not in that frame of unhappy & miserable mind.

I’ve listened to this CD no less than 50 times already. I sing the lyrics in my head when the music isn’t even playing—yes, I’m hooked. Everyday I discover something new about the album. It’s got layers and layers of richness that can only be anticipated from HIM. Can’t wait to see what Ville has for us with the next one.

Ville just looks like Gerard Way these days.

I’ve been a fan for 10 years and over those years I’ve noticed the changes in their music be it small or large. Screamworks is different and yet it is HIM…Each album has a different tone and feel to it, and though the subject is always the same each one speaks to the listener differently. Sure the new album is “poppy” but I look at the album as a whole. The lyrics, the music, and the amount of work put into it (because you can always tell when something was thrown together). I personally love SW, and the guys of HIM did a terrific job making it. The songs are more of the catchy sort being that they are almost 4 mins, and it’s the kind you can sing all the way through on your own. The deep and emotional lyrics that are practically a trademark for them is still present. I still play it like I do the other cds, which is practically to death, and even after I’ve listened to it 10 times in one day I’m still not tired of it.All of that is exactly why HIM is my favorite band and really the only constant music in my life; and I can’t wait to hear it live in May.

Sceptical before 1st listen,

, but I reckon this is a class above Dark Light – which for me was a little disppointing, although the album had a few highlights. I really liked moments of Venus Doom but for me this album is more ‘complete’. I can’t find a single song I dislike – even ‘Heartkiller’ which tbh I was not sure of on first listen at all. The lyrics are really strong on this record like most Him records but Mr V’s vocals really stand out above recent HIM output, especially Ode to Solitude, Disarm Me and Dying Song. The synth inro to Love the Hard Way made me chuckle a little but for for me the album has more memorable moments and fewer ‘flaws’ than most other albums hear these days – I LIKE! Hope to see the band play Sonisphere at Knebworth

I love the new album. It is nice that Ville and the guys are always coming up with new stuff. There are too many bands that just keep putting out the same stuff over and over again. My only complaint is Ville screaming. On some of the songs it is ok, but on others it just does not sound good. Plus all the screaming is not good for his voice that has already been changing due to the smoking and the vomitting from drinking all time did not help. But all and all I love the new album and my favorite song would have to be “Katherine Wheel”

I think Screamworks has become my all time favorite album ever.
HIM totally blew me away.

I think its amazing, when I heard Heartkiller for the first time I was like wtf? but then I heard like st valentine and I totally fall in love with it!! I adore every HIM album and this one is one of my favorites!

Since the moment I crawled out of the womb my father filled my childhood with the music of Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, and the like.
And as a HIM fan for about 8 years now, it’s so wonderful to listen to a band that can be so diverse. Listening to Screamworks has been like a trip down memory lane for me. I was a huge fan of Venus Doom and I had thought that Screamworks would pale in comparison but I was clearly wrong!
At first, seeing the title “The Foreboding Sense of Impending Happiness” I was thinking, what the hell was Ville thinking when he came up with a title like that! It’s saying “Obligatory strange and long title will be inserted here. right now”
But regardless of the title, it was instantly my favorite song. And though I hardly weep, I wept like a newborn when I heard it.
Listen to it right before you sleep, it’s like falling in love. I literally had my breath caught in my throat.

This album was not a disappointment to me, and I am not saying that because HIM is my favorite. I normally look at things with a critical eye and this album blew me away. You have to look at it with an open mind and try to understand where HIM is coming from. You have to understand that none of their albums are the same, so if you are expecting Razorblade Romance or Venus Doom, you are in for a surprise.

If I had more than two thumbs, they will all be up. But alas!

I think that the new album is amazing. I am proud of the band for not being affraid to do something a little bit out of the norm. The “Screamworks” album is a great look at the evolution of an amazing group of true artists. I think that it is sad that there are so many so called HIM fans out there that wish the music sounded the same as it did ten years ago, life is about change and only bands that fail never change their sound. To all the people that say “I wish they still sounded like RAzorblade Romance” I say go listen to the RR album and stop complaining about the new stuff.

I’ve been a fan of HIM for 10 years, and honestly for me they are the only band that doesn’t have a song that I don’t like! Although I prefer their older stuff, I love watching them grow and change, and Screamworks… in its sweet way has already grown on me, and like each of their albums, has it’s own unique way of seducing the listener.

What I like:
Big melodies, catchy choruses, 80’s influence – a winning combination. Ville’s lyrical abilities shine throughout the album, along with the rest of the guys musical talents. These songs are like poetry – deep, intelligent, lyrics describing the most essential human feelings in the most complicated way, creating an aura of mystery. Ghosts of the past are now overshadowed by the feeling of hope, pain is celebrated and considered more a beauty mark than a cause for depression. Melancholic, but followed by upbeat tempo and uplifting melodies, short but sweet guitar solos, and some experimental and new sounds of keyboards. Songs are very sing along, Ville’s voice is much better than in last two albums, ranging from very deep to high pitched screaming. Beautiful voice.

What I don’t like:
As much as I respect their versatility and ability to change and surprise, I like metal-HIM a lot more than pop-HIM. Maybe it has to do with me being from Europe, but this Americanized sound doesn’t have that dark, haunting, sexy, bittersweet vibe that made me love HIM so much. I’d like to hear more of that unique sound, showing they’re from Finland and not from the USA. Screamworks… all in all, is a great album in its own way, but I would like it to be more like GLS or RR and less like DL.

Conclusion:
Although I don’t really like the direction they’ve taken with Screamworks…, this band is so good that again, I cannot help but fall in love with the fresh material of my dear “love metalers”.

Well the album came out just in time that i was about to
get bored of listening to the old stuff and different versions of each song.but after the album release it was a total disappointment.
Yes ville valo has improved his singing,yes tracks are so catchy and melodic since ville valo wanted it to be so.i do understand he wants him to get popular worldwide.but i think him is losing its originality.with this poppy album theres no doubt that they will come in to favour in america and among teen americans who are into pop/rock bands such as greenday,good charlotte,boys like girls exc..most of him fans loved him for its melancholic music that came out from the melancholic country finland,they loved him for its simple but clear and direct lyrics of pain.now listening to these tracks on the new record,it just hurts.if the difference is what ville valo is looking for,then the most different work of him was venus doom.those long tracks which full of scandinavian-type melancholy and doomy music.venus doom was a masterpiece.but in screamworks those happy and hopeful melodies just get on my nerves.its not him!! Inspite of that,there are 2 fave songs of mine from screamworks.dying song and katherine wheel. And i still get emotional when i see him fans sing along to the new songs at gigs. Anyway i will keep listening the old stuff till the next him album.

I was very unsure of the album when I heard the 30 second previews on amazon, but since listening to the album I have really fallen in love with it. It is a big step away from previous work by HIM, and I do miss the darker tone’s of Venus doom, but if the band continued to make similar albums, people would get bored of it. The album is brilliant and scared to death, Kathrine wheel and Like St Valeentine really stand out for me. Sure I would have liked it to have a darker feel and to have been less pop, but Ville never wrires for record labels or to up sales. He rights from the heart, and thats what makes it brilliant.

This is a strong album full of lovely surprises to listen to….I love all the songs, if you let the lyrics & music absorb into you, you *feel* beautiful…

I would like to echo the sentiments of ‘Cat’ in her message above:

‘Cat

17/02/2010 7pm”This is an album for the educated. I absolutely adore this album. Lyrically Ville Valo is the best in the business. It’s an album with intelligence and passion. The vocals are incredible and the band is top notch. HIM never disappoints. You never know what the next album will bring. Congratulations to them for an amazing album and always venturing outside of the box. Well done gentleman!” ‘

In my opinion, the new album is really good. It still does sound like HIM & always will be. The lyrics & vibes are amazing! I have many favourites on the album so far, so i cannot exacle make my mind up at this point of time.

i absolutely love it

it combines a lot of modern synth sounds, HIM’s characteristic romanticism, heavy guitars, screams, etc, giving a unique fresh sound.

HIM rocks

I think people should get over the fact that HIM is not a goth band, and they should try and listen to the 80s stuff.Screamworks is awesome,it has become my favorite HIM album,even though I thought it was impossible for any album to dethrone my dear Razorblade Romance,since it’s the one the got me into HIM.Anyway,Ville has said repeatedly that they wanted the album to have that catchy vibe from the 80s,that makes you want to sing along and sort of dance (can anyone listen to Just Can’t Get Enough by Depeche Mode without at least moving their feet?Don’t think so…),and they freaking did it.That was the ‘premisse’. I just can’t understand why there are so many fans that were willing to come across a ‘Venus Doom vol.2′…
I get a lot of veracity from the album,I can relate to it in a strange way,it’s almost invasive.I would say they’ve done a brilliant job.

i once saw him at download festival jammed in the middle of alter bridge, anthrax, velvet revolver and black sabbath. i was right at the front, able to watch ville get thousands of bottles thrown at him and over 100 emos carried off in stretchers.
all in all, a good day out.

i’ve been a fan for a decade and all i can say is that their last three albums are just different. Personally, i think their last great album was Love Metal, but it’s obvious that they still work hard and pay attention to the smallest details. Vocals and lyrics are great, as always.. nobody writes better than Ville! but i still miss their non-American productions. Screamworks is a nice album, not better than Venus Doom or any of their older albums though. It sounds er, poppier.

I was sceptical before my 1st listen of this album,

so it was a nice surprise to hear the work in full. I was at first a little deterred by the sound of the lead single ‘Heartkiller’ – which has become a real ‘grower’. The impact of the remaining songs was more immediate for me. Comparing the album to recent output from HIM I would say it is more of a complete work than Venus Doom – most of which I loved. IMO also superior to Dark Light, my least favourite HIM album overall. Here there is not a single song on this album I don’t like… which I haven’t been able to say about many albums of recent years – with the exception maybe of Alice In Chains BGWTB. The lyrics are really impresive, as are the vocals – esp Ode to Solitude, Dying Song to name a few. Many highlights in this one – personal fave at the moment is Katherine Wheel I think. A refreshing and welcome addition to the musical landscape of 2010 – would be good to see them play Sonisphere Knebworth!

Conclusion: I LIKE!

To me this album is not “poppy”, it’s rocky with that eightiesvibe… Like the Razorblade Romance era— and I don’t understand people who are complaining about the band changing. Life changes. People changes. Music changes.

How boring it would be to make the same music over and over again? Even if I love their older stuff as much as this one I prefer development and risks then repetition.

“The essence of Sabbath permeates through everything they do and you can hear influences from bands like Cathedral, Paradise Lost and Type O Negative there”
Are you for real Claire?? I must have listened to the wrong album of poppy shite so!

one of the best albums to date!!!

opening lines of the album did it for me, i knew it was a great album from the word go!!

well done Ville and Co

simply beautiful; one of the many things that has made me hooked to HIM is their attention to beauty and their ability to make their songs ‘beautiful’. we rarely see beauty in metal music, but HIM has proved that beauty can be a part of anything; even metal music.
Ville’s voice is so melodic. every single word has been sung to perfection. and the lyrics are amazing. once again HIM has come back to the scene with the sole intention to amaze us. I specially love the many use of ‘no more’ in several lyrics. just these two little words are able to take the whole positivity from a sentence. as in The foreboding sense of Impending Happiness, ‘Look at the scars, smother a heart, opening up, no more.’ or in Disarm me (with your loneliness) or Love the hardest way, or Scared to Death…Beautiful.
I can’t be articulate enough to express how impressive their new album is. I admire their talent, hard work and love for beauty. they’re simply the best band there is! but there’s only one problem with HIM; once you listen to them, you can’t bring yourself to listen to anything else! ever since i got the cd i’m playing it nonstop and even the thought of listening to something else sickens me. well, that’s the kind of power HIM has over me…

I have all the HIM cds and some DVDs too including Digital Versatile Doom. I think that Screamworks is a masterpiece to say the least. There are so many great moments in the album that everytime I hear it I’m discovering something new whether it’s a visual image I get like “the crimson footsteps in the melting snow” from Acoustic Funeral or “This river of sadness until we feel no more pain” from In the Arms of Rain. I can’t wait to see them live on this tour and I can’t wait to listen to the cd again!

I love HIM, but I´ll keep saying that the best producer which they worked with was Hiili Hiilesma (Love Metal, for example). The US producers look for a sound way.. sweet, more americanized thing.. and, over all, they prefer the keyboard base than those heavy, solid guitar riffs of Greatest lovesongs.. or Love Metal.

http://www.myspace.com/luisullan

““The essence of Sabbath permeates through everything they do and you can hear influences from bands like Cathedral, Paradise Lost and Type O Negative there”

Yes, I am for real, Diablo, thanks for commenting and your opnion. I was referring to HIM’s output as a whole. It is very diverse and yes, it certainly has some lighter moments but heavy stuff too.

As a matter of fact, Lee Dorrian of Cathedral is a friend of Ville’s. Just some useless information, there.

I love how HIM divide opinion, actually. It creates fresh and interest debate.

I love everything from Judas Priest to Satyricon. I’m not as fond of stuff like Slipknot, but I recognise it’s all part of the genre we all know and love and therefore it all has to be good!

And the pop shite…Paradise Lost went through a phase of releasing more synth based material, as I recall too. And Good God…the 80s was drowned in hairspray and keyboards. Ville is of a similar age to me as it happens, and I know he’s celebrating what he heard as a kid.

It’s pretty simple. If you like HIM, then fine. I can’t say I blindly love everything they do – I refer to their album Depp Shadows and Brilliant Highlights as the Frisbee Album as I’d rather use it as that than listen to it – but if you don’t, then just leave them for those of us who do. And judging by what I’ve read in these comments, there are a lot of us.

I think its an awesome album, Ville always gives a brief description of how their next album will sound. Venus Doom he said will be very dark and alot of the music will be based off the guitar. This album he told fans it was going to be poppy and have a depeche mode/iggy pop sound to it. I personally Love the album it gets me dancing and singing which is what music should do. For all the fans that don’t like it and say you cant understand how they have changed so much…they haven’t! ville said the album will be poppy and for that you should give the band respect as artists for perfecting what they were trying to do.

Well, I was disappointed at first, I definitely belong to the Venus Doom-type-of-fan. After few spins (and head-phones!) I began to appreciate the brilliancy behind that work.
BUT! Another different approach, another experiment. It is all fine, but they have just gone too far this time. After hearing the acoustics – which are absolutely stunning – everything is there – the melancholy, the darkness, the ark-romantic mood. Then the actual album comes and all those things are gone.
They have gone a step too far with the extra poppiness.
Pity – the distinct melodies which the last 2 albums so obviously lacked are back, Ville’s vocal performance has not been that good i years, the lyrics are the best ever. And everything slightly ruined by too much bells and too much polishes.
The positive thing is that since this album promises to be a small commercial failure, since it is as poppy as Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights, perhaps the next HIM album will arrive in the nick of time. Like the epic Love Metal. And hopefully it will contain the dark-romantic sound we all so much miss! (and hopefully it will be done by the right producer e.g. Hiili )
F***, this could have been their damn best album!

I’m an old HIM fan, I remember seeing Join Me and Gone with the sin on MTV ten years ago and getting instantly hooked on this band. I love them because they’re able to combine the richness of emotion and melodies, and charmingly melancholic voice of Valo with hard rock sound, creating a very unique genre. I’m not very fond of the name “love metal” as I think their music is far from metal, at least these days. But that’s not necessarily bad!
About the poppiness of Screamworks – they wanted it that way, 80’s vibe, pompous (if not a bit cheesy) sound. They’ve worked hard, and it shows, it’s well produced, polished, great deal of attention put to details. maybe too much. Lyrics are pure poetry, as always. This album is a nice contrast to Venus Doom (which I loved), but I’m wondering If they haven’t gone too far with that contrast. Screamworks will, for sure, hook loads of new fans, but I hope they won’t stray too far away from their roots with their future work. There’s a reason why the audience gets wild when hearing old hits like Join Me, Funeral of hearts, Right here in my arms, etc… As I see it, their music back then felt more natural, sexier, darker (not doomier, darker). Since Dark Light it feels as if they’re worrying too much about reaching more people, therefore changing their sound, which is ok (repetition is not good), but they should relax – a great live band like HIM shouldn’t be overproduced or overmixed. I love them and respect them very much and I want to see them be respected, so I’m just hoping they don’t forget where they come from.
So, Screamworks is a great piece of work, no doubt (HIM are naturally unable to make bad music). I sing along each time I hear the new songs, even dance to them. Dying song, TFSOIH, In the arms of rain, Shatter me with hope, Ode to solitude are my favorites right now. I just miss the goosebumps Ville gave me when he sang the words “my darling” before, now it’s all babe this, babe that.. xD and that keyboard sound they’ve used in the beginning of The Sacrament and Heartache every moment, you know? That screams HIM to me, how come they don’t use it anymore?
Enough with the constructive criticism, I would recommend Screamworks to everyone, it’s easy to like, and honestly, i think HIM are competing against themselves with each album they make, it’s impossible to compare them to other bands as they’re unique. Although I don’t praise their change, got to give them props for being brave and so versatile. Screamworks will seduce you all at some point, be it just one song or the whole storyline of the album.

I agree with KEVINALLEN. Despite this being their 7th album, even HIM’s own fans complain ‘now they’re gonna be poppy’, ‘I don’t like the direction they’ve taken’ and s.o.
All of us, fans and non-fans, know HIM way too well in order not to percieve that this is going to be pretty much their one and only album with such sound. It does them credit for paying their tribute to the 80s rock, for even attempting to leave their comfort zone.
People who just love to hate them say ‘they made it ’cause it sells’ but everyone prefers to forget that they never made another ‘Razorblade Romance’ or ‘Dark Light” (thank God) album. Now THEN they would be an average band. THEN they’d be sell-outs.
I’m also not jumping out of enthusiasm with the new album. Not because it is bad – Heaven, it is a brilliant work of art, but because I like heavy music. Doom metal, gothic, heavy metal, black metal – wonderful music the existence of which I discovered nearly 10 years ago exactly thanks to HIM.
Had it not been for the typical blind prejudices, more people would see that this band is one of the best things that has happened to the world of rock since the beginning of the new century.

how can you say this isnt a great album, havent you heard Katherine Wheel? or shatter me with hope? do you guys even know what those lyrics mean? do you even know that katherine wheel is based on a torture device?? and you guys think that is commercial and stuff……… come on think beyond the first thing you hear in the cd, go deeper
I think this is a hole new HIM. Its definitely not the same band as they were in Razorblade Romande but i think that, in a way, they are better. Valo used to write almost the same in all of the albums previous to Venus Doom, the music was not that complex and the vocals werent as great as theyre now
When was the last time u heard to HIM play so well and so creative before Venus Doom?
I think that Valo is taking some serious steps into a special kind of darkness that he has never taken before; just listen to the lyrics of ” sleepwalking past hope”, “passions killing floor”, “love in cold blood” and the ones i mentioned before..

I know you guys were really confort with the small and not so deep lyrics in the past ( even though i like all the him cds) but to me, this one and venus doom are great deep music that not a lot of people can really enjoy

I have complex feelings about this album. it’s been highly anticipated by me and other HIMsters. I feel content with the number of the songs. 13 songs are fairly enough unlike venus doom. I found my all time fav. HIM song on this album; Dying Song! it blew me away the moment i heard the bridge. and the chorus killed it afterwards.. anyways Screamworks includes a couple of songs i’d never listen to if HIM hadnt made them.. such as, scared to death (lyrics are so cheesy for me, plus valo had done it 10 years ago) and disarm me (boring much?)..
my personal fav. album ever is Love Metal even though i like the old HIM as everyone bla bla.. of course I will listen to the rest of the album like crazy until the next one comes out. I have to give it to them, though. They have this ever-changing sound and it takes guts and creativity to do that..

Gamz said it well: “They have this ever-changing sound and it takes guts and creativity to do that..”
In this matter HIM are very much ahead of their contemporaries and that’s one of the things that gives to their touch of greatness.
It is a shame and pity that no one seems to appreciate this.
I hope they will receive the recogniton they deserve… some day…

I love it. I love it I love it I l-o-v-e it. Altough it’s not HIM’s best album. But still, come on. It’s fucking His Infernal Majesty!!!!!!!!! I felt shivers run down my body when I first heard Dying Song. Or Disarm Me With Your Loneliness when Ville starts to sing. Fucking masterpiece.

I am loving Screamworks. First time I heard the previews I wasn’t sure about it, as I enjoy their heavier and darker stuff, but after listening to it in its entirety I was completely seduced. Songs hopelessly stuck in my head. Sure, it’s poppy and radio-tailored, but even I realized that’s not always a bad thing. If you listen carefully, you’ll realize it’s the most complex, layered HIM album. Ville reached new depth with his lyrics, and If you pay attention to them you’ll see that (oh yes) the album does not lack melancholy or darkness, just upbeat melodies that beautifully contrast the cryptic lyrics. I love Ville’s voice. I love 80’s music and I’m glad it was their influence. They always keep surprising, SW is so much different from VD (which I loved) but honestly it’s refreshing, and it’s still HIM. And finally here’s a HIM album that I can dance to!

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