HIM

Written by Helena Torstensson Wednesday, 23 December 2009 10:57

HIM is Love metal from Finland with a famous symbol – The Heartagram that you can find on: the bands CDs and merchandise, Bam Magera and last but not least on many of their fans all over the world.

Biography

The band was formed 1991 by singer and songwriter Ville Hermanni Valo, guitarist Mikko Viljami "Linde" Lindström and Mikko Henrik Julius "Migé Amour" Paananen on bass. HIM started as a cover band, playing songs by bands like KISS, Black Sabbath and Depeche Mode. There have been some changes in the lineup before the band came to its current lineup; in 1999 Mika Kristian "Gas Lipstick" Karppinen took over the drumsticks and in 2001 Janne Johannes "Emerson Burton" Puurtinen took over the keyboard. HIM was first known by the name “His Infernal Majesty” but later they shortened it down to just HIM because it gave people the wrong idea that the band members were Satanists.

1996 - 666 Ways to Love: Prologue
‘666 Ways to Love: Prologue’ is the bands first EP, it was released 1996 solely in Finland and in only 1000 copies. This makes this album very rare for HIM collectors and fans.

1997 - Greatest Love Songs Vol 666
‘Greatest Love Songs Vol 666’ was released in the end of 1997; the album features covers of Christ Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’ and Blue Öyster Cult’s ‘(Don’t Fear) The Reaper’.

1999 - Razorblade Romance
After getting more popular in Finland but also out in Europe HIM released their second album ‘Razorblade Romance’ in 1999. With this album the bands popularity really began to rise. ‘Join Me’ was the first single from the album and it reached nr 1 on the German music charts selling over 500,000 of this single in two months. ‘Razorblade Romance’ was re-released in 2002 in USA but there HIM was not allowed to use their name because of the American band HiM owned the rights to the name. This made HIM change their name to HER in the US; later on they were able to buy the full rights to the name HIM. The other singles from this album was ‘Right Here in My Arms’ and ‘Gone with the Sin’.

2001 - ‘Deep shadows and Brilliant Highlights
In 2001, ‘Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights’ was released. This was the band’s first album with the new keyboardist Emerson Burton who was the final addition to the current lineup. The singles from this album were ‘Pretending’, ‘In Joy and In Sorrow’ and ‘Heartache Every Moment’.

2003 - Love Metal
In 2003, HIM released ‘Love Metal’ on this album cover you find the bands well known logo the Heartagram in gold against a black background. The first single from the album was ‘Funeral of Hearts’, it was the first single to hit a first high appearance on the United Kingdom charts. The following singles were ‘Buried Alive by Love’ and ‘The Sacrament’. With ‘Love Metal’, HIM became more well-known in the US and internationally when professional skateboarder and TV personality Bam Magera started to use the bands Heartagram logo and promoting them on his MTV series “Viva La Bam”. HIM is closely woven together with its symbol - the Heartagram. Ville created it at his 21 birthday. The Heartagram is a symbol with a heart and a pentagram combined in an interesting and beautiful way. Ville says that “the symbol stands for HIM as a band, as an entity and for Love Metal in general”.

2004 - ‘And Love Said No: The Greatest Hits 1997-2004’
In 2004, HIM released their first greatest hits album ‘And Love Said No: The Greatest Hits 1997 - 2004’. It contains two unreleased songs: ‘And Love Said No’ and the Neil Diamond cover ‘Solitary Man’.

2005 - Dark Light
In 2005, it was time for ‘Dark Light’ to be released; it became the band’s full breakthrough in the US. The first single was ‘Wings of a Butterfly’ and the second one ‘Killing Loneliness’. ‘Uneasy Listening Vol. 1’ was released in 2006. It contains fifteen alternative versions of HIM’s lighter songs like ‘In Joy and in Sorrow’, ‘The Sacrament’, ‘Gone With the Sin’ and ‘One Last Time’. ‘Uneasy Listening Vol. 2’ came in 2007. It contains fourteen rare alternative tracks that show HIM’s heavier side, this includes the Black Sabbath cover ‘Hand of Doom’, a remix of ‘Sigillum Diaboli’ and a live version of ‘Right Here In My Arms’.

2007 - Venus Doom
‘Venus Doom’ was also released in 2007. The song ‘Passion’s Killing Floor’ went on the “Transformers” soundtrack and the first single from the album was ‘The Kiss of Dawn’ followed by ‘Bleed Well’.

2010 - Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice
The coming HIM album is called ‘Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice’. It’s planed to be released in February and the first single is called ‘Heartkiller’ and you can listen to it on the bands MySpace page http://www.myspace.com/heartagram

Line-up

Ville Valo - lead vocals, acoustic guitar (1991–present)
Mikko "Linde" Lindström - lead guitar, acoustic guitar (1991–present)
Mikko "Migé" Paananen - bass guitar, backing vocals (1991–present)
Mika "Gas Lipstick" Karppinen - drums, percussion (1999–present)
Janne "Burton" Puurtinen - keyboards, backing vocals (2001–present)

Former members

Juippi - drums, percussion (1991-1992)
Tarvonen - drums, percussion (1991-1992)
Oki - guitar (1992-1996)
Antto Melasniemi - keyboards (1995-1999)
Juhana Tuomas "Pätkä" Rantala - drums, percussion (1995-1999)
Jussi-Mikko "Juska" Salminen - keyboards (1999-2001)

Photos

Discography

1996: 666 Ways to Love: Prologue
1997: Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666
1999: Razorblade Romance
2001: Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights
2002: The Singles Collection (Box set)
2003: Love Metal
2005: Love Metal Archives DVD Limited Edition (including bonus CD HIM vs. Bam)
2005: Dark Light
2006: Uneasy Listening Vol 1
2007: Uneasy Listening Vol 2
2007: Venus Doom
2008: Digital Versatile Doom: Live
2010: Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice

Tourdates

Tour dates can be found through this link: http://www.heartagram.com/tour

Website

http://www.heartagram.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/heartagram

Record Company

Sire Records & Warner Bros