HIM

HIM is a Finnish rock band from Helsinki, active from 1991 to 2017. The group is associated with gothic rock, gothic metal, alternative rock and pop rock, and it is also linked with the term “love metal”, which the band uses for its own music. The name is sometimes styled as H.I.M.

Formation and early years

The band begins in 1991, when vocalist Ville Valo and bassist Mikko “Mige” Paananen form the group under the name His Infernal Majesty. That first version ends in 1993, then Valo and guitarist Mikko “Linde” Lindström reform the band in 1995. After Mige returns, the lineup also includes keyboardist Antto Melasniemi and drummer Juhana “Pätkä” Rantala.

Albums and commercial success

Under the name HIM, the band releases its debut album, Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666, in 1997. In 2000, with drummer Mika “Gas Lipstick” Karppinen and keyboardist Juska Salminen, it releases Razorblade Romance, which reaches number one in Finland, Austria and Germany. The single “Join Me in Death” also reaches number one in Finland and Germany.

After Janne “Burton” Puurtinen joins on keyboards, HIM releases Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights and Love Metal in 2001 and 2003. Both albums enter the top ten in several countries and lead to the band touring the United Kingdom and the United States for the first time. Dark Light follows in 2005 and becomes the group’s most commercially successful album, charting in fifteen countries. It also makes HIM the first Finnish group to receive a gold record in the United States.

In 2007 the band releases Venus Doom, which gives it its highest US chart position at number twelve. After Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice in 2010, the band pauses while Gas Lipstick takes medical leave. HIM later returns and releases Tears on Tape in 2013.

Final period and legacy

In 2015, Gas Lipstick leaves the band and Jukka “Kosmo” Kröger replaces him. In 2017, HIM announces that it will disband after a farewell tour, and its final show takes place on New Year’s Eve 2017 as part of the annual Helldone Festival.

HIM is one of the most commercially successful Finnish bands, with sales of over ten million records. Across its career, it releases eight studio albums, five compilations, three video releases, two box sets, one live album and one remix album, and it receives eight Emma Awards.

Image and symbol

A central part of the band’s identity is the heartagram, a trademarked symbol created by Ville Valo on his twentieth birthday in 1996. It combines a heart and a pentagram and is meant to express contrasts such as softness and heaviness, or the male and female. It first appears prominently on the cover of Love Metal and later becomes closely associated with the band’s releases and wider public image.