Screamworks: Love In Theory & Practice is the seventh full length album by Finland's HIM and while it's the successor to the crunching sounds we found on Venus Doom there seems to be more of a relationship to the bands Razorblade Romance and Love Metal releases if one had to draw a quick musical comparison. Screamworks does maintain an original sound of its own but it is back to the melodic and catchy basics for the guys and that means there is a lot of tunes on the album that will have you singing along in no time and likely after only a couple of listens. It starts of strong with "In Venere Veritas" which bears a Latin name and if one is to trust the online searches for some translation is roughly seems to mean "In Sex, Truth" which leads you to believe that the premise of HIM's material has not really changed all that much and this is a very good thing since they excel at tales of Love, Sex and Death when it comes down to it. I liked the flow of this tune and even its interesting little chanting segment in the middle. It grabs you and this is always important for an albums opener. "Scared To Death" is the second tune and it's a warm and slower track that has a lush sounding chorus and one that I was humming before the song even ended. "Heartkiller" appears to be the main song that they are pushing from the album as its first single or "hit" so to speak and some folks had expressed concern about the song sounding too commercial for their liking and after hearing it a number of times I had to say that they should relax. It's surely not a lame song in the normal commercial sense but it is a very easy to access song and just might be a number that brings more people into the bands listener base.
There is a lot of good stuff around the CD and I will leave many of the surprises to your own discovery even though I will say how I really also liked "Shatter Me With Hope" and "Disarm Me (With Your Loneliness)". It is what the long time fan expected Ville Vallo and company to release for us and that is another catchy and dark melodic recording that spins tales of romance and its pitfalls. I've yet to hear any HIM on the radio stations but perhaps it finds some rotation in the satellite realm which I don't have access to. The fans of the band would likely support and appreciate this one and its commendable that after seven releases that the band still has a number of great musical tricks up their sleeves. Of course the cover might get them into a little bit of trouble since it shows a nun sporting the Heartagram logo. She also seems to have four eyes and I don't mean that she is wearing glasses. My guess is that this one shall get the more pious of the bands fans in a slight uproar and send the ones that don't care straight to the tattoo parlor to get more HIM "ink". There are a couple of different versions of this release being presented to the fans but we did not have access to them for the purpose of this review. A tour will surely follow so let's welcome back HIM after an almost three year wait for this one.
Track Listing:
1. In Venere Veritas
2. Scared To Death
3. Heartkiller
4. Dying Song
5. Disarm Me (With Your Loneliness)
6. Love The Hardest Way
7. Katherine Wheel
8. In The Arms Of Rain
9. Ode To Solitude
10. Shatter Me With Hope
11. Acoustic Funeral (For Love In Limbo)
12. Like St. Valentine
13. The Foreboding Sense Of Impending Happiness
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