minorthreat78's Full Review: Razorblade Romance by HIM (Goth)
I can't speak for others outside of the Reno/Sacramento parts of the universe, but I seem to have been pummelled recently by window displays at local mall Hot Topics prominently referencing some band/artist that goes by the name of HIM, and whose logo is a rather campy left-hand pentagram (the kind with two points up) with its top two points instead curving in, resembling a heart with two spikes coming out of it.
I'll be honest, I had no idea who HIM was, if he/they were a solo artist or band, or even actually if it was a band and not some bizarre cable television program or something.
As it turns out, HIM (an acronym for His Infernal Majesty) is a Finnish goth-metal band that has been around for quite a while, but only recently have made in-roads into the American music scene. Most notably this has been through the widespread release of their 2000 album, Razorblade Romance. Surprisingly for a metal band, this success has mostly been through a female contingent. Surprising, anyway, until one takes a look at the music, and the overall tone of the band's music.
For lack of a better term, HIM makes romantic goth-metal. I don't really get it either, but basically, the song's lyrics mix death imagery with romance. It is a little goofy, but apparently it is working well for them. And the album actually is pretty decent.
Undoubtedly, the band certainly knows how to play creative and interesting goth metal music. Mixing quality guitar riffs with goth-style synth programming, tracks like "Poison Girl" and "Death Is in Love with Us" have a hard edge and entrancing melodies, and "Join Me in Death" is a sweet, slow-dancing goth track.
One of the issues I have with the album, however, is the abundance of same-sounding and redundant ballads like "Bury Me Deep Inside of Your Heart" and "Razorblade Kiss". I realize the band is trying to reach a primarily female audience, but I can't help but wonder how many mid-temp goth-rock ballads are necessary on one album. Add to this a wretched cover of Chris Isaak's song "Wicked Game", and the album overall is just a bit too sappy for my tastes.
That said, I can certainly see the band's appeal. The album is very effectively marketed to a specific group (primarily adolescent females with a prevalence of black clothing), and suits that group fairly well. And I'll agree that much of the album works well, in parts at least.
I think that is my greatest criticism to the album. As far as I know, the songs on the album were re-ordered, and a few extra tracks were added to this American release. In some ways, I think this disrupts the flow of the album as a whole. Several songs on the album are good, and a few even great; however, the disruption of song-to-song flow and a few sub-par or bad songs keep Razorblade Romance from really being as good as it could be. As it stands, the album is a quality, if not flawed, goth-metal album, and probably worth checking out if you like that sort of thing. It's no classic, but it still is pretty good.
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