Undoubtedly an album and band for mall rats from it's era, but to ignore CKY and
Bam Margera, we have some metal-leaning Alt/Pop Rock songs made by strong appreciators for
classic Hard Rock. Having said that, the reason this band made it big enough to get together with
former Cocteau Twins producer John Fryer, is because Finland media was immediately pushing
them as the new national equivalent of Backstreet Boys with their cover of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game.

Don't let the Type O Negative style guitar layering fool you, there's hardly any form of Metal
being played on Razorblade Romance (RCA, 1999) unless you count the singer's occasional
shout-singing. Lyrically, they do the bare minimum which the singer's vocal range
itself makes up for paired with frequent breathy falsetto hits that work
with that strong studio-recording polish. If you want to notice any
emotional depth production-wise, try listening to the synth parts on early live performances
of songs like Resurrection, Gone With the Sin, Heaven Tonight
and the particular piano sound on hit Join Me in Death. Otherwise, if you're looking
for the most metal-leaning tracks, listen to Death Is In Love With Us, which
has one of the catchiest hooks, the opener I Love You (Prelude to Tragedy) which has
a main riff arguably taking notes from pedal effects used in Nu Metal. Razorblade Kiss
has their guitar player using noticably low octave settings but ultimately fitting more as a Pop
Rock song with an infectious chorus.

Poison Girl and Right Here in My Arms have very catchy riffs and well
executed chord structures. The album closes with One Last Time which pairs Jangle Pop
style acoustic guitar with a fuzzy 90's phaser key effect all complimented by a beautiful synthesizer
guiding the verse sections and Beatles-like accompaniment to the chorus.

HIM