Him - Dark Light

Now here’s a band that has been on my to-listen-to list for some years now. The Finnish five-some has existed in the periphery of my attention ever since I heard that they cover Cat Stevens in their live shows. I will reluctantly admit, however, that I never made the effort to listen to an album the whole way through until recently. Having only come across press tagging them as “love metal” and some androgynous photographs of lead singer Ville Valo, I suppose I was expecting something a little darker than what we have here. While Dark Light is not exactly a pick-me-up, there’s a certain gloom and atmosphere of which I feel ripped off. For a fifth album (and a North American debut), this is exactly what you’d expect. Right from the operatic opener “Vampire Heart,” the production is pristine, and the arrangements are extremely streamlined. They’ve got musicianship and chemistry to burn: All the melodies are clean, and Valo’s vocals (especially all the harmonies) are pitch perfect. Honorable mentions include the catchy “Wings of a Butterfly,” with the most effective hook on the whole album; power ballad “Play Dead,” with an impressive use of strings; and the first drum-heavy 42 seconds of “The Face of God.” Basically, every track could be a single; there is no filler. But therein lies the problem: There is no unsettling ambiguity nor any little imperfections, and the result feels a little sterile for something that’s supposed to be emotive. HIM’s designation as a “love metal” band originates mainly from Valo’s lyrics. He more than manages to fulfill the goth staple of heavily using religious imagery to illustrate his grand tales of heartbreak, as in the title track (“In oblivion's garden / Her body's on fire / Writhing towards the angel defiled”), or “Vampire Heart” (“Let me weep you this poem as Heaven's gates close”). In the case of “In the night-side of Eden,” it even doubles for social commentary (“We fall in love with the serpent's song, and fear nothing”). His downfall, however, is clichés. Really bad ones. Observe the chorus to “Killing loneliness” (“With the venomous kiss you gave me / I'm killing loneliness with you / With the warmth of your arms you saved me / Oh, I'm killing loneliness with you”). Yikes. As an album, Dark Light doesn’t hold a candle to their previous effort Love Metal, nor does it compare to their debut (including the absolutely brilliant cover of Chris Isaac’s “Wicked Game”). I understand they’re trying to break into the North American market, but there’s something much too safe and radio-ready about this record. At this point in their career, they’re primed for something a little more experimental, a little more conceptual. Something that doesn’t swallow this easy. As yet, they’re targeting graduated Evanescence fans as the better alternative to The Rasmus, and they can certainly do better than that. [www.heartagram.com]