Salvo Russo vs. Stefan Vogelaar

Review  by Salvo "Lovedeath77" Russo_____________________________

EMOTIONS IN MUSIC

Four years ago..."HIM-Greatest lovesongs 666" ...The album that changed the way to play Gothic metal...Him mixed romantic and melodic music to gothic atmospheres..."Razorblade Romance" was a bit more romantic and less gothic. But it was their masterpiece!!!!..Two years ago...."Deep shadows and Brillant Highlights"...created the romantic way to be a dark soul!!!! Now it's 2003........HIM are back!!!!!!

Many bands and true defenders hate them..but why do they take inspirations from their songs???? i should ask it to Ville Lehiala (Sentenced)...he always said to hate HIM but his new band Poisonblack is in my opinion the bad imitation of Valo's band (first period).

Nu-goth can not do without them..."Razorbalde Romance" was been one of the best album ever!  And now? I have the pleasure to present you ..."LOVE METAL".

Boys and girls......Him are back with a cd that has been written from the bottom of their  heart....Looking in deep of their heart....this is the music of the soul...full of emotions . The coolest thing is that they are able to play what they feel.....They express their feeling through  music...is it easy???..........ok.....let us give a look to the songs......

"Funeral of Hearts" is the first single from this cd and it sounds like a cold ballad in which Valo shows a his unmistakable romantic voice that sings into a wonderful decaying melody......The song gets an easy structure as a classic Him song.....but gets also their unmistakable passion!

"Buried alive by Love" will be the second single; it sounds like a 70's rock song in which Lily Lazer plays an enjoyable guitar riff .....Valo is able to become a bit more wild.....!!!!!!!!!

In this album "Burton"(KEYBOARDS) shows his passion for piano...and in many songs he shows his abilty with classical parts !!!! "The Path" starts with a piano-intro that reminds me to "Procol Harum" 60-70's pop-rock band....the song is full of romanticism....many decaying chorus...while the final part is full of solos played around a 70's inspired music!!!!!!!

"Soul on Fire" is full of energy....Lily Lazer is very able to create an unforgettable riff....Valo sings a very beautiful refrain........and it's in! They're HIM.......They're the one and only!!!!

Another classic piano intro in "The Sacrament"!!!!  This song is very melodic and Valo is perfect!  His voice seems to shows the heart of the song! it's a poetry.........How much passion !

"Beyond Redemption" is a speed melodic song that reminds me Razorbalde Romance' style.....Lily is not a guitar-hero ..but his riffs are very beautiful....the rhytmic session gives the right power.......

Another melancholic ballad is "Sweet Pandemonium"....what a beautiful refrein! Another song compoused from the bottom of the heart....The music seems to join the deepness of  bands like THE MISSION and the passion of the acoustic dimension as well……these are emotions..........emotions in music!!!!!!!!

In my opinion, "Endless dark" is not up to the task...because it gets an expected and easy refrain compared with the others songs...although it's played with the same passion!

....BUT FOR ME  THE BEST SONG IS "CIRCLE OF FEAR" ...the lyrics...explain all the sensibility of this song...

"If you wanna save her
then first you'll have to save yourself
if you wanna free her from the hurt
then do it with your pain
if you wanna see her smile again
don't show her you're afraid
cause your circle of fear is the same"

The music seems to be composed around these words...!!!!!!!!! Valo shows the beautiness of his low tones ...and the beautiness of high tones in the refrain!!!!!!The production is at the top....while the perfect arrangements show the soul of these songs that coud be played into an acoustic concert as well. I can say that the arrangements give the magic touch to this album!!!!!!

Congratulations! WHAT MAY I SAY? This album is different from the other ones of HIM....and i'm sure that many bands will try to imitate their unmistakable style...if you're a sensitive person.....you'll love this album from the first to the last note!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Salvo "Lovedeath77" Russo 

MOANING VOCALS

As this is my second review i ever do, i have to apologize for my rather unpolite way maybe, but at the end of story who cares..
Well, lets talk about the new HIM album Love Metal: all in all i personally think that this could be a great work , but..... yeah there is that "but" you expect i think....but the vocals, i've listened to, were some kind of crying baby moanings becoz of hunger or a lost toy (literally meaning).
The riffs are agreeable and the drums are in tune with the bass guitar, there are some fresh winds in Love Metal, even if on the whole it sounds all the same as the older stuff but i think that is due to the fact that they havent still found a new singer until now!...
And here we go with the bad thing of this band: the singer or frontman/frontwoman whatever...: in every song i had to listen in order to drop down this couple of lines i've heard,as far as vocals are concerened, nothing else than a kind of wining beeing. Well at least my cat mews better when he is hungry, but Ville doesn't have the need to cry with the object of getting food, though if he goes on that way he will soon!

this time i will give two ratings:

music 8/10
vocals 0/10 (get another job, man!)