HIM, a Finnish Gothic band

HIM is the abbreviation of His Infernal Majesty

HIM is a Finnish Gothic band. The lead singer, Ville Hermanni Valo, is a hard rock pioneer who is accustomed to self-deprecating, and he is also a pain-stricken poet. When he is on stage, he holds a bottle of red wine in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He seems to be a replica of Jim Morrison, except that Valo's voice is deeper and more emotional. He will constantly attract your attention.

At that time, there were three guys who wanted to express their ideas through music. These guys had been good friends since childhood. They are Ville Hermanni Valo, Mikko Mikko Lindstrom (also known as Linde, Lintti or Lily Lazer) and Mikko Paananen (alias Migé Amour). At first, Ville played bass, but because Mige also played bass, Ville started to be the lead singer. Before HIM was formed, Ville was the bassist in a progressive band called Donits-Osmo. Later, I also tried cooperation with several people from Ultra Bra. Ville made some demos and played them to Mige, who was immediately hooked. They are now going to form a band, and after hiring Linde, who they are familiar with, as their guitarist, they are now missing a drummer. Ville's new friend Suho (Jimsonweed's lead singer) gave him Patak's phone number (real name is Mikko Rantala), and the band was formed. Patak comes from Slumgudgeon, a garage rock band from Lappeenranta. (The rest of the band laughed at Patak's origins, as Lappenranta is a small town in eastern Finland.)

“Other people think of me as an insidious lady-like man who is hopeless, and the name of the band represents my reputation, which sometimes makes me a little angry. His Infernal Majesty has nothing to do with religious beliefs or ideologies in any way - and the 666 in the work has no connection with the number of the beast. Sometimes when I read about people burning down historic churches in Finland or using our names in connection with Black. I was indignant at these people when Sabbath and Dimmu Borgir were linked as inspiration for the name! ”

Ville Hermanni Valo finally formed HIM in the summer of 1995, surrounded by some of his old friends. *** enjoys what Ville calls himself "love metal". Ville said this about love metal, "Love metal includes pop, metal, goth, magic and other elements. It is inspired by the feeling of the first contact, the first first kiss. Love metal is like Gone with the As the Wind movie poster depicts - Clark Gable hugging Vivien Leigh tightly at sunset"

In their first performances, they really didn't have much of their own music to perform. Their music is a mixture of Rauli Badding Somerjoki, Dingo, WASP, KISS, Depeche Mode, Type O" Negative styles. Ville thought that their music should be like the combination of Dimmu Borgir and Depeche Mode in the movie made by David Lynch. So the band ( In fact, Ville began to create his own music.

HIM's first EP was released in the fall of 1996 and was called "666 Ways To Love" - ??the photo of Ville's mother was young on the album cover. Photos from that time.

"Wicked Game" from this EP sounds like a Chris Isaak-style pop hit, but it was a major breakthrough for them. The song uses soft guitar to express emotions similar to those in the TV series "Twin Peaks".

In late 1996, Ville provided background vocals for 69 Eyes' album "Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams". After the release of the band's EP, they recruited a new member - keyboardist Antto Melasniemi, who is also an old friend of Ville. At the same time, the band's name was also shortened - now it is simply called HIM.

"Wicked Game" is the "important theme" of their debut album released in the fall of 1997. The powerful guitars in the album enrich HIM's musical image, but the self-reflective spiritual essence of the songs remains unchanged. .

“I can relate to the emotions reflected in that song, and these are the melancholy feelings expressed in our music. Compared with other energetic metal bands, I have More like Chris Isaak. I Hate Upbeat Music! For You is a loud but happy song, you know what I mean, right? My opinion on those boring pop ballads of the 80s."

HIM's debut album - Greatest Lovesongs, Vol. 666 has a single called Your Sweet Six Six Six. For Ville and HIM, 666 represents all the contradictions - gods and demons in love. Love is broader than life itself but very close to death, constantly wandering between sensuality, purity and spirituality.

“666 represents the kind of thing you always have, you have to get but it will eventually destroy you. This kind of thing is very sweet but has a bitter aftertaste, just like Belgian beer, hahahaha... …” This is the androgynous Ville Valo on the cover of Greatest Lovesongs, Vol. 666, surrounded by burning flames. This is Ville Valo, who started learning to play bass just to watch the fireworks during Gene Simmons' performance, and started his music career from then on; this is Ville Valo, who believes that stage performance is a kind of spiritual masturbation for him. The boy who once worked in a sex shop now has his own band, HIM, and they just released the most influential debut album of the 1990s.

The single also includes the slow-singing "(Don"t Fear) The Reaper," which was first recorded by Blue Oyster Cult in the 1970s. "You might say Romeo and Juliet are the heroes and heroines of our music - that's why we put in (Don't Fear) The Reaper. The first time I heard it was a cover of Halloween and it's still fresh in my mind. . ”

HIM has worked hard to make arrangements for their future. The band's second album was originally titled "Slippery When Dead" and was dedicated to Ville's favorite Bon Jovi. The album was originally scheduled to be released in the spring of 1999, but they encountered some problems. Antto left the band in the fall of 1998 and was replaced by Jussi-Mikko Salminen (alias Zoltan Pluto or Juska). Juska is a die-hard fan of HIM, a magical band from Kouvola named Mary-Ann. His first collaboration with HIM was the band's first friendly performance in Germany in November 1998.

In late 1998 HIM performed a series of tours in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

At the end of 1998, Ville once again provided harmony for the 69 Eyes album "Wasting the Dawn". He also actively helped with the pre-production of the lead vocals and provided good guidance for the completion of the album.

Their album took almost the entire year of 1999 to record. They worked with Patak, but this did not satisfy the band. Since Patak's girlfriend is pregnant, he is no longer 100% committed to the band's work. So Patak eventually left the band and was replaced by Mika Karppinen (aka Gas Lipstick or Kaasu). Kaasu was formerly a member of Kyyria. So HIM re-recorded the album in Wales. They finally released a new EP "Join Me" in November 1999 and appeared in Roland Emmerich's film "The 13th Floor". After the single was released, it quickly became popular in Finland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Before the release of their second album, HIM also made guest appearances for other Finnish bands, such as appearing in Nelja Ruusua's music video and recording the single "Hunningolla". In a TV show called "Laulava Sydan" Ville sang three songs by Rauli Badding Somerjoki (these songs were released on a compilation album by Finnish artists) together with the Agents.

In January 2000, HIM released their second brand new album, but the name was changed to "Razorblade Romance". The album reached number one in Finland, Germany and Austria. The cover of the album adopts the style of the 1980s, changing from gothic black to a pink background. In the spring (specifically on Valentine's Day in Germany) the band went on to release the band's second EP "Right Here In My Arms". The album reached number one in Finland and number 21 in Germany.

On June 17, HIM made their only guest appearance in 2000 in their hometown of Finland, with the progressive metal band Seinajoki. In the spring of the same year, HIM released their third single "Poison Girl". The album's best results were No. 3 in Finland and No. 34 in Germany. When July passed and August came, HIM had already recorded demo tapes in Hollola in preparation for the release of a new album. At that time, there were already rumors that the band had completed 11 new singles.

At this time, HIM was becoming more and more known in Greece, and its record sales suddenly jumped into the top ten. At this time, Ville returned again to provide background vocals for the 69 Eyes' new album, which was to be released in September 2000.

In August 2000, HIM went to the UK to shoot two MVs, which were to be released immediately. There are also rumors that Desmond Child was involved in the production of the new album - Desmond Child is the famous composer of Bon Jovi and Alice Cooper