HIM: DARK LIGHT

SCORE: 98/100

HIM's fifth studio album falls back into the more accessible, people-pleasing side that was showcased on 'Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights', with a sound that has been described as more polished for the band. It continues the same form as 'Love Metal' while mixing in a softer edge and more melodic tracks with less heavy instrumentals, letting a lighter side back into the bands' discography that works better the second time around.

'Dark Light' was the first HIM album to see a worldwide release under Sire records, a label that the band had signed with a year prior to the albums' eventual release. The sound of 'Dark Light' helps to give the band a sound that can appeal more to a general crowd, with pleasing melodies and some very catchy tracks being scattered throughout the album, it works as a breather into their catalogue to squeeze in a more "clean" album for the band; showcasing their softer side to appeal to a more mainstream crowd.

The band is at their best when they are not concerned with allowing their sound to be more mainstream, and this album feels more on the level of 'Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights' than anything - almost feeling like a sibling album to Deep Shadows in its compositions and lighter sound. It's a more airy album - but when the instrumentals take over, they take over hard. It's another stunning piece in HIM's discography, and it contains some of their best tracks despite the album not being their best work in terms of the full album itself.

The structure of 'Dark Light' in particular is a very nice aspect of the album, the songs feel like they have a place and once 'Wings of a Butterfly' kicks in, it's clear that the band has leaned into a sound that is both mainstream and perfectly catered to their fans; its a perfect mix of both expectations and new material, and it doesn't disappoint despite the mixed reception seeming like an indication that this project might not be as great as their previous works.

Like 'Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights', the composition of this album came with struggles. Distractions at The Paramour Estate where they were recording led to equipment having to be moved, and Ville Valo would wind up working on his own in the upstairs portion of the estate while the rest of the band went to Las Vegas with Bam Margera. Ville was very particular about the mixing of this album, wanting to keep the deep, dark layer of melancholy in the mixes - when their mixer had removed the elements that made the sound stick as well as it does, he was fired. 

HIM knows how to make an album that will appeal to a wider crowd while still keeping their values and sounds very much in place - setting them apart from other bands who would "sell out" under the same circumstances that HIM were surrounded with. The band never lost their touch or went into a direction that would dampen their sound, and this album continue proves that. Although it may be more accessible in nature to their previous works, it still has that gothic edge that only HIM can manage to create. The album has an atmosphere that makes it clear that the band had a vision for how they wanted this album to sound, and it comes through delightfully throughout each track.

'Dark Light' focuses most on more melodic tracks, with lyrics that have tinges of both love and death colliding into a stunningly poetic portrait of the band, Ville's vocal performances are spectacular on this album, and the instrumental work of the rest of the band leads this album into new highs. It's a new territory for the band, and they pulled it off astonishingly well. It's clear that this album had a lot of polishing work that went into it - and it paid off.

It's an album that has more cinematic qualities to it - a feat that the band has pulled off countless times before. Ville Valo has described the albums lyrical content as being about "girls and boys and the politics of the heart". The ballads are enough to pierce through anyone's heartstrings, and it's another complete triumph for the band following 'Love Metal'. The band knows how to make a comeback that'll stick, and they did just that with 'Dark Light'.

The album is yet another project that is uniquely HIM's, and the style that they chose to use for this album is both different and familiar all at the same time. Their signature sound is there and in the forefront, but there are elements within this album that make it feel like a drastically different project when compared to their other albums. It's a stunning, glowing showcase of just what the band is capable of, and they show it well.