H.I.M.: Official 'Venus Doom' Release Date Revealed

Finnish goth metallers H.I.M. have set September 18 as the new North American release date for their follow-up to 2005's "Dark Light", entitled "Venus Doom". The band's sixth studio CD, which will arrive one day earlier internationally, was recorded at the Finnvox facility in Helsinki with producer Tim Palmer and was mixed in California.

H.I.M. frontman Ville Valo recently told MTV.com that "Venus Doom" is "going to be a lot heavier than anything we've done before — that's the whole idea. It's like we're mixing MY BLOODY VALENTINE's 'Loveless' with METALLICA's 'Master of Puppets'. ... There won't be as much ear candy on this one. There are a lot of riffs, and it's more guitar-oriented than keyboard-driven. Really, we just wanted to rock our own socks off.

"We wanted to make a really rockin' album — one that would explode your speakers," he added. "But we also wanted to maintain the melancholy aspects of love and loss in the lyrics and then have the really sweet vocals amidst this storm of guitars.

"Lyrically, it's about me losing a relationship and then actually regaining it, and losing my sanity and regaining it," Valo continued. "As you grow up, life gets more and more complex, even though when you're a kid you think things are going to get easier. It's like a f---ing puzzle that just keeps on having more and more pieces to it. It's very personal, this album. It's like me getting rid of my demons and putting the pain in the music. It's cathartic, and it's about cleansing yourself and trying to have the courage to take that one step further."

Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Dead Lovers Lane" (video), "The Kiss of Dawn", "Love in Cold Blood" and "Passion's Killing Floor".