Be Inspired By Love Metal From Him
By extra. Filed in Art & Photography |
If there is one band from the beautiful city of Helsinki that often defies the labels slapped on bands, then it must be HIM. Music industry critics and band store owners have labeled the band’s music from the sub-genres of rock like gothic rock, alternative rock and hard rock and of metal like gothic metal, alternative metal and doom metal. There have been too many names but one thing is true, only the band members and their fans can decide what to label their music.
Genre and Symbol
It is perhaps because of the differing categories that the term love metal was hatched to define the group’s kind of music. In an attempt to be as exact as possible, experts say that love metal is really a mixture of rock, gothic, heavy, rock and pop elements. This rich mix is said to largely be the result of lead singer Ville Valo’s creative juices.
In accordance with its name, the so-called heartagram represents the band as well as the musical genre. Because of its wide popularity, Valo once remarked that the band is now better known for its symbol than its music.
Band Past
The original name of the band is His Infernal Majesty. After the Wicked Game single came out in 1998, this name was seemingly shortened to HIM. Other groups carry names similar to it. The group however is not the same as the Christian band 4Him, the American post rock group HiM and the Canadian metal band Infernal Majesty.
The group only really adopted the HIM name after it bought the rights of the name from HiM. Before they were able to obtain the rights, they used HER for Razorblade Romance, and HIM and HER for tours across Europe.
Like a lot of other bands, HIM has had its fair share of member shifts and changes. Band members include a considerably long list of performers. This includes lead vocalist and acoustic guitarist Ville Valo; lead and acoustic guitarist Mikko Lindstrom; bass guitarist and backup vocalist Mikko Paananen; drummer and percussionist Mika Karppinen; and keyboardist and backup vocalist Janne Puurtinen. Past members complete the official list with drummers and percussionists Juhana Tuomas Rantala, Juippi, and Juha Tarvonen; keyboardists Sergei Ovalov, Antto Melasniemi and Jussi-Mikko Salminen; and guitarist Oki.
Studio Albums Released
As expected from this unique band, they can boast of a substantial work collection. They have twenty-two singles, twenty-three music videos, seven HIM albums, six compilations, one live album, one extended play and four video albums.
• Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666 (1997)- Contrary to its title, this is not meant to be Satanic
• Razorblade Romance (1999)- It has the distinction of being the all-time bestseller album in Finnish music history
• Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights (2001)- This is the current band member’s debut effort although it is the third under the HIM label
• Love Metal (2003)- Widely considered as the band’s most definitive work, it features the heartagram logo for the first time
• Dark Light (2005)- This was inspired by ancient mythologies and modern religions
• Venus Doom (2007)- It has the heaviest metal sound of the band at present
• Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice (2010)- Valo describes the album as a cathartic, primal scream
With this long list of artistic creations, there is no doubt that HIM will be around for long on band posters. There’s no killing this pioneering music giant.
Tags: band posters, band store, HIM albums
