Venus Doom - Sounds and Themes

Sounds and Themes

Frontman Ville Valo calls the album the band's heaviest yet, describing the roots of its sound like a mixing of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless with Metallica's Master of Puppets.

Venus Doom has both the longest and shortest running HIM tracks to date; the longest being "Sleepwalking Past Hope" (10:03) and the shortest being the acoustic "Song or Suicide" (1:10). The album was produced by Tim Palmer (Ozzy Osbourne, Dredg) and Hiili Hiilesmaa (The 69 Eyes, Apocalyptica). Ville Valo told Kerrang! magazine that there is a concept in a couple of the tracks written during the same period. Venus Doom is the first HIM studio album to feature a song featuring nothing but an acoustic guitar, aside from vocals.

The album has nine tracks to represent the nine circles of hell from Dante's The Divine Comedy. The acoustic version of "Bleed Well" references this, featuring a verse that was dropped from the final recording. The verse contained the line, "We'll descend to the ninth and last, where we're judged," referencing the next track, the ninth track "Cyanide Sun."

The album has been described as “…frontman Ville Valo once again leading his ensemble through a set of lovelorn metal tunes. This time around, however, the revered Scandinavian agro-goth band tones down the atmospheric keyboard parts, allowing Lindstrom's stinging guitar work, which often nods to veteran hard-rock six-stringer Zakk Wylde to shine through, resulting in one of HIM's heaviest albums.”

With Venus Doom at the helm, HIM, first time in their career, received attention from some of the biggest music publication’s in the US, including Rolling Stone, who gave the album a 3 out of 5, stating "The melodies tend toward the lush, while underneath, Valo's bandmates rock with fury and efficiency..."

Spin magazine said of the album “Valo's steel-melting baritone, dipping so eerily low that you can actually feel it, infuses Venus Doom with melody and drama..."

Q magazine said of the band “he Eurogoth quintet has hardly ditched their love of metal melody.... Their chart-friendly clothes fit them well..."

Uncut said of the band’s direction "HIM mainman Ville Valo gets closer to his dream fusion of Depeche Mode and Ozzy, while still remembering to ad some distinctly gothic beauty”