HIM DEEP SHADOWS AND BRILLIANT HIGHLIGHTS ALBUM BMG RELEASE: AUGUST 22, 2001 REVIEW: SEPTEMBER 10, 2001

I can’t help it. I kind of like the cheap, sleazy love metal of Him. Or used to, anyway.
Clearly, over one million sold records has corrupted the thinking of the Finnish lads somewhat. I can almost hear it: "We’ll take it easy on the dark parts, make choruses that are even easier to sing along to and - wham! - we’ll have a hit record that will sell even more copies than ‘Razorblade Romance’".
Maybe I’m mean, but that is how it feels. The layout of the record is more dark and gloomy than on "Razorblade Romance" and "Greatest Love Songs Vol 666"..., but the music is more mainstream. Sure, there are some highlights like the piano in "Heartache Every Moment" and the lines "From Lashes to Ashes, from Lust to Dust" in the same song, for instance. But as a whole, the record shows a band that wishes they could cast deep shadows, but mostly manages to sound like an 80:s rock group in the same genre as Bon Jovi.
Too bad. Him has and had a nice potential to be a kind of "Type O Negative light". Goth metal with a wry smile.

KALLE MALMSTEDT