Dark light

Dark light
Studio album by
Publication (s)	September 23, 2005
Label (s)	Warner Music Group
Format (s)	CD, LP
Genre (s)	Dark rock
Title (number)	10
running time	45:30
occupation	Singing : Ville Valo Guitar : Mikko Lindström Bass : Mikko Paananen Drums : Mika Kristian Karppinen Keyboard : Jani Purttinen
production	Tim Palmer
Studio (s)	Paramour Studios, Los Angeles (USA)
chronology And Love Said No (2004) Dark light Venus Doom (2007)

Dark Light (English for: "Dunkles Licht") is the fifth studio album by the Finnish dark rock band HIM . Dark Light was released on September 23, 2005 in Finland and Germany, three days later in the rest of Europe and on September 27 in the USA and Canada . This was the first time that a HIM album was released in Japan .

Album title

The album title used was the song title Dark Light of the same name , which in turn was derived from the American title The Dark Light (original title: Danish Det mørke lyset , German title: Das dunkle Licht ) from a Norwegian book by Mette Newth . This book served singer Valo as a source of inspiration for the song Dark Light .

Album cover

This time blue was used for the color concept. The booklet was printed on glossy paper and the cover design should be reminiscent of a movie poster, in the style of Batman comics. A gloomy skyscraper stands amidst thundering waves. The Heartagram ribbon logo is projected onto it as a light symbol (obviously based on the bat light symbol from Batman ). The lettering Dark Light was applied with a transparent color that is only visible when the light falls correctly. The booklet contains lyrics and a photo of the band. The cover was designed by Matt Taylor and Sonny Gerasimowicz.

History of origin

First Andy Wallace was supposed to produce the record, but after the band became increasingly dissatisfied with his specifications, this was exchanged for Tim Palmer . Palmer has worked as a producer on Love Metal and And Love Said No. After HIM had fulfilled their old record deal with Super Sonic / Gun Records (with the 5th album And Love Said No ), they switched to the American record label Warner Music Group , under which Dark Light was now released. This label should finally bring great success for the group in the USA, which for HIM was still largely a blank spot on the map. They were again supported in this project by Bam Margera and Jimmy Pop . Dark Light was the first album that was made entirely in the United States.

Already in 2003 Valo mentioned that he had ideas for eight songs for the next album Dark Light . He later rejected some of these ideas. He said only about half of those songs made it onto the album and the other half he wrote only a month and a half before they hit the studio. The recordings took place in the Paramour Mansion in Los Angeles and lasted around 2 months. After that, the album was mixed in the Electric Lady Studios in New York .

Publications and chart placements

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Dark light   DE 4th 09/23/2005 (13 weeks)   AT 4th 09/26/2005 (7 weeks)   CH 8th 09/26/2005 (7 weeks)   UK 18th 09/26/2005 (5 weeks)   US 18th 09/27/2005 (37 weeks)   FI 1 39/2005 (20 weeks)

Singles

(Rip out the) Wings of a Butterfly   DE 10 05.09.2005 (11 weeks)   AT 12 05.09.2005 (12 weeks)   CH 28 05.09.2005 (11 weeks)   UK 10 05.09.2005 (4 weeks)   US 87 05.09.2005 (2 weeks)   FI 1 37/2005 (7 weeks) Killing loneliness   DE 32 02/11/2006 (8 weeks)   AT 56 02/11/2006 (4 weeks)   CH 44 02/11/2006 (4 weeks)   UK 26th 02/11/2006 (2 weeks)   FI 2 03/2006 (5 weeks)

After the release, the album reached # 1 on the Finnish charts, number 4 of the German charts and also in the US and in the UK where there are foreign performers difficult always, each rank 18. Therefore Darklight viewed as a breakthrough of the band in the US (Gold status).

The song Rip Out the Wings of a Butterfly was released as a single, but only under the title The Wings of a Butterfly . This was, like five years earlier with Join Me (in Death) , an admission, since the "harmless" song title could be marketed better. This single reached the top of the charts in Finland, at least 10th in Germany, as well as in Great Britain, and 87th in the USA. The successor single Killing Loneliness was similar, the third single from the album, Vampire Heart , was only released as 7 ″ vinyl record released in November 2005 in the UK.

The album was released worldwide in numerous versions. At the start in Europe, the first edition came out in a slipcase. There was also a digibook, limited to 50,000 copies and a double vinyl version limited to 20,000 copies, which was sold on the Internet. Furthermore, a special album version was released in Japan, on which the Ramones cover Poison Heart can be heard.

criticism

Despite the success of the album, Dark Light is controversial and is seen as a weak album and a disappointment, especially by long-established fans in Europe. Critics complain that the band's music and appearance were too adapted to the American market and, above all, an admission to the new record company. The band itself is aware of this criticism and therefore the next album, Venus Doom , which was released in September 2007 , should again be clearly rockier, heavier and more unadjusted. Valo himself said that this follow-up album would not please the lovers of Dark Light .

Information about the video clips

Wings of a Butterfly was created in a Union Station building in New York. The director was Meiert Avis. The video clip borrows from the album cover design, vaguely reminiscent of superhero comics. With a budget of nearly $ 500,000, it's probably HIM's most expensive video clip.

Two videos were created for Killing Loneliness . The first is from Nobel Jones. The second video clip, which was shot for the American market, was directed by Nathan Cox and the tattoo artist Kat Von D can be seen in a guest appearance. HIM - Killing Loneliness (Version 2, 2006). IMVDb, accessed February 15, 2016 .  The band plays in both videos and is watched by various people.

Information on individual songs

• The song Killing Loneliness is about the heroin addiction of a friend of the singer. When he asked why he had taken heroin, he replied “to kill the loneliness” (“to kill loneliness”).

Track list

The pieces without further information were written by Ville Valo.

Dark Light (German Standard Version)

1. Vampire Heart - 4:46
2. Rip Out the Wings of a Butterfly - 3:30
3. Under the Rose - 4:50
4. Killing Loneliness - 4:29
5. Dark Light - 4:31
6. Behind the Crimson Door - 4:37
7. The Face of God - 4:36
8. Drunk on Shadows - 3:49
9. Play Dead - 4:36
10. In the Nightside of Eden - 5:40

Bonus title

1. Venus (In Our Blood) (only in the internet-only, limited double vinyl LP and the Japanese version)
2. The Cage (only in the internet-only version, limited double vinyl LP and in digibook)
3. Poison Heart (only in the Japanese version and limited double vinyl LP) Dee Dee Ramone / Daniel Rey

Web links

• Lyrics album: "Dark Light" (2005) on darklyrics.com, accessed February 15, 2016.
• HIM (2) - Dark Light on discogs.com, accessed February 15, 2016.
• HIM Dark Light - AllMusic Review on allmusic.com, accessed February 15, 2016.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} HIM: Dark Light. ultimate-guitar.com, December 7, 2006, accessed February 15, 2016 . 
2. ↑ Dark Light [Japan Bonus Track] by HIM. MTV Artists, accessed February 15, 2016 . 
3. ↑ Video title: Interview with Ville on Italian MTV (Part 1) on youtube.com; Interview from 2005, source from minute 0:00; accessed on August 10, 2015.
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Dark Light booklet.
5. ↑ Old HIM fansite - the article can be found under the heading Orgy for Gloominess (if something is illegible, mark it with the mouse) Rumba Magazin, August 2003; Excerpt: Ville: “I already have 8 new song ideas of the next album after Love Metal.”; last accessed August 10, 2015.
6. ↑ Video title: Ville Valo and Mige - Dark Light Interview on youtube.com, interview from 2005 for the program Sol Musica , source from minute 0:30; accessed on August 10, 2015.
7. ↑ Article Scan - Rock Sound, October 2005, Title: HIM - Blackened Hearts , Text: Darren Sadler; Excerpt: Ville: “I was writing the album for a year and a half during touring the States and after the compilation CD And Love Said No , and for some reason I was obsessed by this folky kind of stuff. It sounded like shit at the end of the day, and I ended up scrapping almost everything I had done and I re-wrote the album in two months. I just wanted to have this straightforward rock vibe with big sing along chouruses, and tongue-in-cheek rip off some Sisters of Mercy stuff and some Cult stuff. ”; Retrieved August 10, 2015.
8. ↑ Charts DE Charts AT Charts CH Charts UK Charts US Charts FI
9. ↑ Reinhardt Haydn: HIM - His Infernal Majesty. Plexus Publishing, London 2007, ISBN 978-0-85965-392-3 , p. 118.
10. ↑ HIM - "Dark Light" | CD review. Metal1.info, April 6, 2013, accessed February 15, 2016 . 
11. ↑ Video title: Making of Wings of a Butterfly on youtube.com, 2005, source from minute 0:27; last accessed August 17, 2015.
12. ↑ Video title: HIM interview with Jersey Beat Magazine on youtube.com, Interview with Valo in the tour bus on a North American tour for Jersey Beat Magazine on September 28, 2013; Source from minute 7:50; last accessed on August 17, 2015.
13. ^ HIM - Killing Loneliness (Version 1, 2005). IMVDb, accessed February 15, 2016 . 
14. ↑ HIM - Killing Loneliness Lyrics Meaning. Lyric Interpretations, accessed February 15, 2016 .