Artist
HIM
Why we feature this artist Romantic melodies under a dark metal surface HIM made a highly recognisable meeting point between heavy guitar and a romantic pop melody. Ville Valo's low voice could suggest intimacy even when the arrangement became enormous, giving…
- From
- Finland
- Sound
- Gothic rock, gothic metal, alternative rock
- Active
- 1991–1993, 1995–2017
Start with the music
Tracks to explore
The artist, in context
The story of HIM
Why we feature this artist
Romantic melodies under a dark metal surface
HIM made a highly recognisable meeting point between heavy guitar and a romantic pop melody. Ville Valo's low voice could suggest intimacy even when the arrangement became enormous, giving the Finnish band's songs a distinctive emotional scale. The phrase love metal was more than an album title: it described the contradiction the music deliberately kept in view.
The early records
The Helsinki band developed around Valo with musicians including guitarist Mikko Lindström and bassist Mikko Paananen. Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666, released in 1997, introduced the mixture of dark atmosphere, strong melodic writing and heavier rock. Its version of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game made the attraction to romantic tension especially clear, translating an already haunted song into a different instrumental language.
Razorblade Romance brought a much wider European audience around the turn of the millennium. Join Me in Death and Right Here in My Arms gave the band accessible, carefully built choruses without removing the sombre vocal character. The contrast was central: lyrics and imagery could point toward darkness while the melody remained immediately inviting.
Love Metal and Dark Light
Love Metal followed in 2003, including Buried Alive by Love, The Funeral of Hearts and The Sacrament. The record made the group's balance of force and melodic clarity particularly coherent, with producer Hiili Hiilesmaa helping shape its sound. The arrangements allowed the guitar to carry weight without obscuring the movements of the vocal line.
Dark Light in 2005 expanded the international audience further, with Wings of a Butterfly and Killing Loneliness among its defining songs. HIM's imagery, including the heartagram symbol, became closely associated with the music, but the records were never dependent on the image alone. Their strongest choruses make affection and foreboding occupy the same phrase, so that the darkness is audible even when the tune is at its most welcoming.
Essential releases
Razorblade Romance
Join Me in Death and Right Here in My Arms define the early breakthrough beyond Finland.
Love Metal
The Funeral of Hearts and The Sacrament give the band's melodic and heavy elements a particularly unified setting.
Dark Light
Wings of a Butterfly and Killing Loneliness bring that sound to a broader international audience.