H.I.M. "Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice"

This band has always been able to merge many influences into their sound creating what they call "love metal" They have also always been able to balance sugary and melodic hooks with their metallic influences without the sound's sincerity being compromised. It's worrisome that starting with such a powerful first track could only lead to disappointment later. This song is very addictive and the instrumentals are hooky and top-notch; as I was saying earlier  this song is a perfect example of their balancing prowess. They have this short screaming passage backed by a short but sweet solo, and then short group choral chant singing "find and chase us over the edge." Which has apparently caused their love to die because it is in a body bag and the wounds sing "In Venere Veritas." It is very hard to profess the  love you have for another, you might even be "Scared To Death" to speak to them, but Vallo is more afraid to fall in love than to profess it. The song is very melodic and tender, it shows how frail this feeling can make someone, and how they can even fall for a "Heartkiller." The latter is also very hooky and there is no surprise as it was a single, and the first one at that. Not that the first track was not rockin', but this song's groove would appeal to those who turned on the Dark Light as they clipped the wings of a butterfly. The song of a woman who has the power of a defibrillator,  but at the same time also has the power of Medusa; with one look in your eyes she can drain you of all hope of ever being her lover and yours turns to stone. This "Dying Song" with its metallic tendencies and underlining bass and keyboard backbone amidst its percussion find a way to keep the sing-along factor alive. You have one chance to save the world, and a man in madness who has been sent to h#ll, yet is on earth, is going to send the world into ashes. The only way to top this madness is to listen to this song "Disarm Me (With Your Loneliness)" which is very melancholy I guess you can call this band The Cure of the metal world? They are a Metal band at heart, so why wouldn't they want "Love, The Hardest Way" with it's driving drums, quicker tempo, emotional delivery that leads to a little decibel increase, yet keeps the sound pleasing to the ear; the subject is love after all. The lyrics in this are making me dizzy, I like the allusion, as well as the sound that is not held down by the weight of emotion, but keep it rolling like a "Katherine Wheel." The intro to the next song reminds me of Edge, very atmospheric,yet in a quicker pace. Then leads to a very beat heavy, melodic, and slightly claustrophobic sound instead of the space that is created by a band that I like, do U2? But this song is "In the Arms of Rain," which can change its intensity from time to time, as this does, but the song never goes to the torrential stage, and that is fine;  I would say the bridge and breakdown is a nice touch. Even though this song is an "Ode To Solitude," they are a metal band at heart, and this song can get mean, but still hooky as all h#ll, a quick pace with a rhythmic chorus; this is one of my favorite songs! I will admit as well as on me with intense emotion that really starts to build after 2:30, but then you think it's contained and goes to show a solid ending. From one cardio companion to another, they keep the pace, and bring the emotion up a notch with a song that may "Shatter Me With Hope," references to Damocles, Cassandra, and "we'll tear this baby apart/Wise like Solomon/Turn to page forty-three/and you'll know how I feel" as he screams with anguish.When they referred to baby did they mean the guitar solo? Well, love has died apparently because there is an "Acoustic Funeral (For Love In Limbo)" in a song that may not be as heavenly as it suggests, but it is a very melodic and I guess the sound is in limbo too; it is balanced between the two sides. Like a vampire let me suck the sorrow out of you "Like St. Valentine" starting with a quick beat and a screech that is followed by driving drums amidst a very hooky chorus, this recurring riff and a  killer bridge that chases you until you run out of breath. It's very short, but it came alive and it was just Vallo's delivery changing, not a monster bridge. They have created a strong album I will tell you, and not just because they had started with a stellar track and finished with one, but it was very consistent. The final song  "The Foreboding Sense of Impending Happiness" in an airy, turtle-techno type song. An interesting finish as it seem like a song that has neither rock or metal elements, but may include an influence of Depeche Mode? May the best songs be proclaimed as: In Venere Veritas, Heartkiller, Disarm Me (With Your Loneliness), In The Arms of Rain, Ode To Solitude, Shatter Me With Hope, Like St Valentine, and The Foreboding Sense of Impending Happiness.