Venus Doom

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Venus Doom
File:Venus Doom.jpg
Studio album by HIM
Released 14 September 2007 (Germany, Finland, Sweden & Ireland)
15 September 2007 (Puerto Rico)
17 September 2007 (International)
18 September 2007 (United States & Canada)
Recorded June 2006 - March 2007 at Finnvox Studios, Helsinki.
Genre Rock
Length 48:12
Label Sire
Producer Tim Palmer / Hiili Hiilesmaa
HIM chronology
Uneasy Listening Vol. 2
(2007)Uneasy Listening Vol. 22007		 Venus Doom
(2007)		 Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 & 2
(2007)Uneasy Listening Vol. 1 & 22007
Singles from Venus Doom
  1. "The Kiss of Dawn"
    Released: 10 September 2007
  2. "Bleed Well"
    Released: 5 December 2007
Special Edition
Special Edition
Limited Edition
Limited Edition
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3.5/5 stars[1]
Blender 3.5/5 stars[2]
NME 6/10 stars[3]
Rolling Stone 3/5 stars[4]
antiMusic 4.5/5 stars[5]
IGN 7.3/10 stars[6]
sputnik music 3.5/5 stars[7]
Melodic.net 3.5/5 stars[8]

Venus Doom is the sixth studio album by Finnish band, HIM, released on 14 September 2007 (Germany, Finland, Sweden and Ireland), 17 September 2007 internationally and 18 September 2007 in the United States.[9]

Overview

On 26 September, the album debuted at #12 in the U.S., with 38,000 copies sold. This is a record for a Finnish act. It made #31 in the UK.[10] In Finland, Venus Doom peaked at #2, and in Germany it debuted at #3. As of November 2011, it has sold more than 1,000,000 copies worldwide.

At the 50th annual Grammy Awards, Matt Taylor and Ville Valo, for HIM, were nominated for "Best Boxed/Special Limited Edition packaging" for Venus Doom, but lost to What It Is!: Funky Soul and Rare Grooves (1967-1977) (performed by various artists and artwork by Masaki Koike).[11]

Sounds and themes

Frontman Ville Valo calls the album the band's heaviest yet, describing the roots of its sound like a mixing of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless with Metallica's Master of Puppets.[12]

Venus Doom has both the longest and shortest running HIM tracks to date; the longest being "Sleepwalking Past Hope" (10:03) and the shortest being the acoustic "Song or Suicide" (1:10).[13] The album was produced by Tim Palmer (Ozzy Osbourne, Dredg) and Hiili Hiilesmaa (The 69 Eyes, Apocalyptica).[14] Ville Valo told Kerrang! magazine that there is a concept in a couple of the tracks written during the same period. Venus Doom is the first HIM studio album to feature a song featuring nothing but an acoustic guitar, aside from vocals.

The album has nine tracks to represent the nine circles of hell from Dante's The Divine Comedy. The acoustic version of "Bleed Well" references this, featuring a verse that was dropped from the final recording. The verse contained the line, "We'll descend to the ninth and last, where we're judged," referencing the next track, the ninth track "Cyanide Sun". [15]

The album has been described as “…frontman Ville Valo once again leading his ensemble through a set of lovelorn metal tunes. This time around, however, the revered Scandinavian agro-goth band tones down the atmospheric keyboard parts, allowing Lindstrom's stinging guitar work, which often nods to veteran hard-rock six-stringer Zakk Wylde to shine through, resulting in one of HIM's heaviest albums.”[16]

With Venus Doom at the helm, HIM, first time in their career, received attention from some of the biggest music publication’s in the US, including Rolling Stone, who gave the album a 3 out of 5, stating "The melodies tend toward the lush, while underneath, Valo's bandmates rock with fury and efficiency..."

Spin magazine said of the album “Valo's steel-melting baritone, dipping so eerily low that you can actually feel it, infuses Venus Doom with melody and drama..."

Q magazine said of the band “[T]he Eurogoth quintet has hardly ditched their love of metal melody.... Their chart-friendly clothes fit them well..."

Uncut said of the band’s direction "HIM mainman Ville Valo gets closer to his dream fusion of Depeche Mode and Ozzy, while still remembering to add some distinctly gothic beauty”

Cover art

The cover art was painted by artist David Harouni. Ville Valo purchased one of Harouni's paintings at New Orleans' Harouni Gallery and later asked Harouni if it could be used as the cover.[17] The band launched a contest on their Street Team site, asking fans to use the painting as the base for the Venus Doom cover. The artwork by Harouni is used for the regular edition of the album.

Songs

HIM filmed the music video for the first single off the album, "The Kiss of Dawn" starting 21 June in the Los Angeles area.[18] Meiert Avis, who directed HIM's previous video "Wings of a Butterfly", was the director. The production team put out a casting call for a "beautiful girl (model type) to perform in the lead role of the video". Auditions were held on 19 June.[19] Ville Valo stated that the song "The Kiss of Dawn" was for a "close friend who committed suicide soon after the band wrapped the recording sessions for Dark Light".[14]

The second single was "Bleed Well", which was released on 5 December 2007.

Track listing

All songs are composed by Ville Valo.

No. Title Length
1. "Venus Doom"   5:08
2. "Love in Cold Blood"   5:55
3. "Passion's Killing Floor"   5:11
4. "The Kiss of Dawn"   5:55
5. "Sleepwalking Past Hope"   10:03
6. "Dead Lovers' Lane"   4:29
7. "Song or Suicide"   1:11
8. "Bleed Well"   4:25
9. "Cyanide Sun"   5:54
Total length:
 48:21

Japan Promo DVD

  • The kiss of dawn (Video)
  • E.P.K - Interview (Video)

B-Sides (Only in singles)

  1. "Passion's Killing Floor" (Herpé remix) – 3:45
  2. "Love in Cold Blood" (Acoustic Version) – 2:44
  3. "The Kiss of Dawn" (Demo) - 4:56
  4. "Sleepwalking Past Hope" (Live In Toronto) - 10:29
  5. "Killing Loneliness" (Libre Nos F.F. Remix)- 4:30
  6. "Bleed Well" (Live) - 4:22*Taken from the live album "Digital Verstaile Doom"

Personnel

HIM

Technical Staff

  • Producers: Hiili Hiilesmaa, Tim Palmer
  • Engineers: Hiili Hiilesmaa, Tim Palmer
  • Mixing: Tim Palmer
  • Mixing Assistant: Jamie Seyberth
  • Mastering: Ted Jensen
  • A&R: Michael Goldstone
  • Art direction: Matt Taylor, Ville Valo
  • Design: Matt Taylor
  • Photography: Ville Valo, Tim Palmer, Matt Taylor, Ville Juurikkala
  • Cover Painting: David Harouni

Chart and certifications

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[37] Gold 23,318[37]
Greece (IFPI Greece)[38] Gold 7,500

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Venus Doom at AllMusic
  2. ↑ [1] Archived October 11, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ [2] Archived February 23, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7484459&style=music
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "FinlandHIMVenus_DoomalbumCertRef" defined multiple times with different content
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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