HIM Take a Lighter Look at Love in Time for Valentine's Day

The album continues HIM's look at life, love and death. However, this time around the band takes a step away from the doom and gloom of their last album Venus Doom with a lighter, more upbeat approach on Screamworks.

The album also takes a step away from the gothic rock feel of the band's previous material with a heavy pop feel . The new style is partially due to the influence of American power pop producer Matt Squire (Taking Back Sunday, The Used).

It is clear that singer Ville Valo used the record to experiment with his vocals and the entire band brings forth a new infectious energy that is perfect for live perfomances.

Screamworks also features some of Valo's best lyrics to date. He takes a fresh look at his usual brand of love and death while creating haunting imagery and using some great metaphors to express his feelings. In interviews Valo has said that he wrote the album based around a relationship in his life that he hopes to cultivate and it is obvious that he poured all of his emotions into the recording.

The album opens with the pop punk chords of In Venere Veritas as Valo croons "Let's fall apart together now!" The song is the perfect opener full of sexual imagery and the Latin chorus does a great job of conveying the sense of the title which translated roughly means "in sex there is truth".

Up next is the highlight track of the album Scared to Death. The track is a 80's tinged rock ballad that is possibly the most emotional moment of the album, "All these pickup lines from hell. Ice breakers infernal from a heart so black and blue only for you." The track stands as a testament to the "love metal" that the band is known for.

Next up is the first track released off of the album, Heartkiller. The track is a progressive one that feautures heavy instrumentation layered over the usual keyboard-singed tone that HIM is known for. "Sparks will fly beneath the lunar lights. Lazarus at Frankenstein's. Babe, I"ll be a flatliner for a heartkiller."

Dying Song is up next and is another beautiful ballad. The song's complex lyrics and twisted metaphors make for a great listen, "I've seen these dreams be crushed by a single thought and felt the envy of sadness engulf all warmth."

Up next is a ode to taking a chance on love with Disarm Me With Your Loneliness, "You keep on tempting me to go on whatever the cost to witness the prettiest flower in bloom wither to dust." The song is moving for many reasons including the seamless move from powerful guitar solo to a bridge highlighted by a orchestral backing.

Love, the Hardest Way is a playful track that is the most "HIM" sounding song on Screamworks, "Love's like the Devil counting teardrops in the rain."

Katherine Wheel is a bittersweet look at love but it has a catchy sing along feel to it. The song uses some wonderfully vivid imagery, "Come on and break me a limb at a time. Wrap me around your spoke so tight." The sexual images that it invokes are pretty powerful.

"Lift the lid off your heart's casket in the arms of rain." Next up is the synth-influenced track In the Arms of Rain. The powerful ending makes it one of the best moments of the album and the last line, "It's the end of the road of a road and we're free." is a key moment.

Ode to Solitude is a radio friendly track that showcases a perfect balance of all of the albums new influences but remains true to the band's dark undertones, "Here's to the pain. The light of the oncoming train.

Shatter Me With Hope is a rock driven track that is built around a number of metaphors and features Valo screaming his heart out, "We'll tear this baby apart, wise like Solomon."

Acoustic Funeral (For Love In Limbo), features one of the best lyrics of the album in "We're dancing with tags on our toes." The track takes a look at life and mortality and the pursuit of both.

Like St. Valentine takes a heavy punk rock turn and is easily the most experimental track on the album. The song's hectic feel and disharmony make it one that needs to be listened to more than once to truly appreciate it, "Suck the sorrow out of you and try to keep the lie alive."

Screamworks final track is The Foreboding Sense of Impending Happiness which closes out the album on a somber and experiemental note. Like the previous track Like St. Valentine, the song is one that needs to be listened to again to hear everything that is involved in the song. The song has a Depeche Mode feel to it and features more orchestral tones and passionate lyrics from Valo, "Come look at the scars, smother a heart, opening up."

Taken as a whole Screamworks is a fantastic journey down a new path for HIM. The album's emotional rollercoaster does a great job of bringing forth the band's passion and creativity.

HIM will be touring in the U.S. starting March 26 in Philadelphia. The tour will be making a stop in Pontiac at Clutch Cargos on Friday, April 2 and will then be in Grand Rapids at the Orbit Room on Tuesday, April 6.