Valo Once More ‘A Solitary Man’

''I've got my right hand to write and wank with, so I'm fine!''

Posted Sunday, 3 June 2007 in

HIM Finnish love metallers HIM are currently holed up in Helsinki's Finnvox Studios recording their sixth studio album, 'Venus Doom' - their second effort for Sire. Taking a break for a few glasses of claret, frontman Ville Valo told Rock Sound that everything's going to plan...

"We're ahead of time; the drums and guitar are all done, we're just lacking some lyrics - as we always are because I'm a lazy fucking bastard!" he laughed. "But it's all good; if you can make depression sound uplifting, that's what we're doing at this particular moment."

Valo's certainly had a lot of inspiration in that department, and cites the suicide of a close friend in 05 as being a major influence on his lyrical outpourings.

"We shared a lot of thoughts and feelings and I really enjoyed being with him. You can always analyse and try to intellectualise things but there are times when it's not so fucking easy," the singer explained. "It made me feel, for the first time in years, really sad and not so egocentric. When you delve into the problems of your own particular relationships, it really does make you concentrate on what the people around you are going through. It seems that my troubles are little compared to what others have been through."

Typically, 'Venus Doom' reflects HIM's light-and-shade view on matters of the heart, with song titles set to include 'Love In Cold Blood', 'Bleed Well', 'Sleep Walking Past Hope' and 'Passion's Killing Floor'.

"There's also a song called 'Cyanide Sun' about how much it hurts to be with somebody: you can love somebody to death and you can maybe over-love somebody to death," Ville added. "It doesn't necessarily make it more complicated but it makes it painful."

After recording their last album in LA, the band's decision to work closer to home is mainly due to keyboardist Burton becoming a father in October. With knob-turner Tim Palmer - who also produced 'Dark Light' and mixed 'Love Metal' - at the helm, Valo added that 'Venus Doom' is a much heftier prospect than the 05-released 'Dark Light'.

"It's more direct, more macho, more organic, more straight in your face. There's a bit of Metallica and Machine Head in there - it's definitely a lot more aggressive and violent than our other albums," he enthused. "I've been addressing some different emotions that I should have been addressing years ago. My self-parody's going in a direction I never knew it would. I'm guided by ghosts of the past. I always write in isolation - you've got to be isolated when you go through all that shit. I've got my right hand to write and wank with, so I'm fine! Everyone in the band seems quite happy and we're having a blast doing it!"

'Venus Doom' is slated for release in July.