Venus Doom

The album was recorded at Finnvox Studios in Helsinki with producers Hiili Hiilesmaa and Tim Palmer, both whom had collaborated with the band on various occasions, and released on 14 September 2007.

Among other things, his alcohol abuse had worsened to the point that he suffered a nervous breakdown during the recording process, after which he was admitted to the Promises Rehabilitation Clinic in Malibu by HIM's manager Seppo Vesterinen.

Venus Doom was eventually certified gold in Finland and gave the band their highest US chart position to date at number twelve, selling over 38.000 copies in the first week.

[3] After three months of recording, the album was mixed at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles by Tim Palmer, and mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound in New York.

[6] Exhaustion and his break-up with fiancée Jonna Nygrén had severely affected Valo's worsening alcohol abuse, resulting in him reportedly vomiting and defecating blood at one point.

[6] Venus Doom has been described as HIM's heaviest and darkest album to date, and was written with the intent of creating a much heavier and darker follow-up to Dark Light.

[5] Speaking on the sound of the album, BBC described it as a "grand, gothic metal [record] combined with cod-mysticism, crunchy guitars, thrashy drums and a breathy vocal delivery tinged with effects.

[10] "Passion's Killing Floor" was included on the soundtrack album of the 2007 film Transformers, while "The Kiss of Dawn" was partly inspired by a friend of Valo's who committed suicide.

[11] In "Song or Suicide", Valo used lines from the poems of Finnish author Timo K. Mukka, while the title was inspired by American singer-songwriter Judee Sill.

[33] The band's shows at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles on 14 and 15 November 2007 were also filmed and recorded, and later released as the live album Digital Versatile Doom on 29 April 2008.

[39] NOW also commended the band's choice to experiment, while Rolling Stone stated: "The melodies tend toward the lush, while underneath, Valo's bandmates rock with fury and efficiency, ensuring that all the heartbroken laments are badass enough for hardcore metalheads.

"[40] Eamonn Stack of the BBC was also positive in his review of Venus Doom, describing the album as "instantly catchy, heavy and melodramatic, and produced with polish and with some great choruses", but did feel that the material lacked variety.

[9] Jarkko Jokelainen of Helsingin Sanomat was more mixed in his review, giving kudos to the Lindström's guitar playing and the arrangements, but overall felt that the album lacked the hit-potential of Dark Light.

"[45] Loudwire later ranked Venus Doom fifth in the band's discography, describing it as "focusing more on chunky, heaving riffs" and displaying "HIM's dynamic interplay between unchained love and heartbreak".

HIM performing in Marysville, California, in August 2007