HIM — Razorblade Romance (review)

HIM — Razorblade Romance album cover Album · 1999 · Gothic Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
2.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Razorblade Romance" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Finnish goth rock/metal act Him. The album was released in December 1999 by BMG. While the band´s debut album mostly gained Him popularity in their homeland, "Razorblade Romance" was the album that gave them European commercial success. It wasn´t until 2002 that "Razorblade Romance" was released in the US and it was actually initially released under the Her monicker as an American band owned the rights to the Him name. "Razorblade Romance" was only released in 1000 copies with the Her name on the sleeve though as the band quickly secured the rights to the name and all subsequent pressings bear the Him name.

The music on "Razorblade Romance" is a very easily accessible goth rock/metal style. The tracks are vers/chorus structured and seldom deviate from that form. The atmosphere is melancholic and dominated by the vocals by Ville Hermanni Valo. The instrumental part of the music functions more as backing to the vocals than anything else (don´t expect memorable riffs). Everything is wrapped up in a clean and polished production that I´m sure won´t offend anyone. And that´s probably my greatest issue with this album. I want to be offended, I want to be challenged and I´m having a hard time appreciating a pop oriented album posing as a metal ditto. That´s of course unless the material on said type album is of an extraordinarily high quality, which isn´t the case here. After a couple of tracks the album quickly settles into a steady stream of goth roch/metal tunes that don´t stand out from each other and badly lack attitude. Hell this is so sweet even my mother would like it!

Allow me to question the longivity of the music on this album. At least it didn´t take me more than a couple of listens before I felt less than entertained. A 2.5 star rating is warranted.
Share this review

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

A Sonication Technical Death Metal
OBSCURA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us