After nearly two decades on the music scene, Finnish quintet HIM still knows how to churn out some catchy tunes. Oddly, the ""heartagram"" symbol that vocalist Ville Valo trademarked has become more well-known than the band's music. Not surprisingly, one may attribute the heartagram's notoriety to the commercial success professional skater and ""Jackass"" Bam Margera has enjoyed, since Valo gifted trademark rights to his longtime friend.
Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, the band's seventh studio album, certainly tries to capture such success by toning down their normally brooding, dark digressions into a more approachable formula. From a fan's perspective, such a move may be analogous to the fabled ""sellout,"" and in many senses that may be accurate. Valo's characteristically deep vocal style, the result of impressive chain-smoking at shows (and one can assume most of the rest of his waking hours), takes a back seat on the album. He hits consistently higher notes on Screamworks than past albums, notably their platinum record Razorblade Romance. On successive listens, the poppy atmosphere his new vocal style creates becomes enjoyable and simply makes prior albums that much darker. Unlike the album title suggests, the screaming is kept to a minimum over the course of the song list.
Another aspect that seems jarring upon first diving into the album is the large amount of synth. Whether one prefers to classify that particular ""tone"" as ""new wave"" or a straight throwback to '80s glam, the synth exists and must be dealt with. Thankfully, it takes a backseat to the overall song construction and becomes less of a shock after multiple spins of the album.
The biggest criticism of HIM from many different consumer angles centers on their melodramatic and frankly emo lyrical content. Having labeled themselves as love metal, which also appeared as the title of their fourth album, Screamworks delivers on their formulaic approach to song themes. Really, do not make a foray into the genre if the thought of listening to nearly 50 minutes of love-themed songs sounds more boring than watching an obelisk's shadow.
The album does not really stray into the dangerous area of catatonic monotony (thankfully) by switching up the pace every now and then. Some early favorites emerge after minimal listening to the album a few times. ""Disarm Me (With Your Loneliness)"" serves as the obligatory ballad on the album, which is not surprising from a band that cites heavy influence from Bon Jovi. ""Love, The Hardest Way"" and ""In the Arms Of The Rain"" are victims of the aforementioned synth, but manage to limit the dominance of that sound past the songs' intro sections. Perhaps the two best tracks on the album are ""Ode To Solitude"" and ""Like St. Valentine,"" which prove to keep feet tapping.
HIM's willingness to cow-tow to commercial pressure by changing their edgy sound into a more commercialized, processed product detracts from Screamworks, but leaves a hopeful void for the band's next release. As if there was any doubt, one can be sure that Bam digs this album, and after a few listens, appreciating the overall product seems inevitable. When compared with the rest of their discography, however, the new direction drives Screamworks somewhere into the middle of the road.
