“Apparently, my wish has been granted by Finland’s H.I.M. They’ve been doing this for a number of years (completely under my rock radar), finally producing Dark Light for their U.S. debut. I don’t know what their other records sound like (yes, I know, with this new record they’ve “sold out,” “mellowed” or whatever adjective describes an old fan’s betrayal), but this one sets my WaybackMachine to 1975.” … read full review by Mark Saleski
“All music scenes and styles evolve over time and the gothic scene of today looks more to rock and metal than the punk and dance of its forebears. Along with such bands as Evanescence and Nightwish, HIM seem to have retained the best of past and present, the drive and power of hard rock and the emotive passion of old school goth. Buried Alive by Love fires up the album with…” ~ read 2 page review by Dave Franklin
“A lot of people have the propensity to give H.I.M. unnecessary doses of grief simply because of the band’s friendship and professional allegiance to pro skater Bam Margera. What’s unfortunate about this is that H.I.M. actually produces dramatic metal of high sonic quality, and once again Love Metal further reinforces that notion.” ~view full review by Rob Theakston
“Third album from the Finnish band that has redefined Goth Rock since its inception in 1996. Their sound is the same vein as Sisters of Mercy and the Mission (UK). Lead singer Ville Valo writes spiritual songs about friendship, trust and love. They are songs of longing – but they are delivered with attitude. For every moment of sorrow there’s always a mischievous smile, and a killer left hook to knock you out cold. That’s probably why the album is called “Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights” – a photography term used to describe those old black and whites of the likes of Greta Garbo. The album, too, is heavy on sharp contrasts. You can’t help but notice that the ‘love metal’ of HIM’s first two albums has turned into something significantly deeper, a scorching yin and yang concoction the band likes to refer to as ‘Scandinavian blues’. Ville hates the Beatles and Red Meat, but loves Gene Simmons and Edgar Allan Poe… those choices speak volumes.” – from Amazon.com
“In truth, the number of bands that’ve combined extreme Metal music with Gothic and Pop overtones are countless, yet few have dared to open their souls and say it like it is. Yes, HIM is certainly egocentric in the sense they’ve dared to call the number of Dark Metal crossovers on the premise that love indeed lurks beneath the gruff exterior, that they may maintain culpability with their cult fans, however, for all of HIM’s talk about girl meets boy, there’s an undeniable fierceness in delivery that’s pure fire.” – read complete review by Vinnie Apicella
“You ever listen to a CD that made you dance around the apartment air-guitaring, even though you knew that though two of your roommates had gone away for the weekend, your third one was in his room with his girlfriend, early in the morning, having made some moaning sounds with her when you first started listening to the CD, and if they came out and spotted you, you’d merely hand them the album and say to them both, “You’ve gotta hear this!”
“The album starts hard with “Your Sweet Six Six Six” that calms down briefly for the verse lines, yet gets very doomy with the chorus. Though the title and chorus might make it seem sinister, it’s more like both a celebration and cry against that damnable masochistic love that one can’t help but feel for an abusive, manipulative fiend.” – read indepth review by Mr. Huh?
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