Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice

Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, Chapters 1−13 is the seventh studio album by Finnish gothic rock band HIM. Released on 8 February 2010, the album was recorded at The Lair Studios and NRG Studios in Los Angeles, California, with producer Matt Squire, who had previously worked with The Used and Panic! at the Disco among others. Screamworks was HIM‘s first album that vocalist Ville Valoworked on completely sober following his time in rehab, which resulted in the band rehearsing more than ever before. Valo had set out to prove himself following his new-found sobriety, but the excessive rehearsing eventually wore some of the band out. Musically Screamworks featured a more accessible and straightforward sound than its predecessor, with influences from the music of the 1980s. Much of the album’s material was inspired by a relationship of Valo’s with an undisclosed partner, who served as his muse.