HIM

HIM, originally called His Infernal Majesty, was formed in Helsinki in 1991 by Ville Valo and bassist Mikko “Mige” Paananen. They reformed in 1995 with guitarist Mikko “Linde” Lindström and carved out a unique niche in the music world with their self-coined genre, "love metal" — a potent fusion of gothic rock, romantic melancholy, and hard-hitting riffs. Their debut album Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666 (1997) defined their signature sound. Razorblade Romance (2000), featuring the anthem "Join Me in Death," propelled them to international recognition with platinum and gold sales. Albums like Love Metal (2003) and particularly Dark Light (2005) established them as commercial powerhouses; Dark Light was the first Finnish album to earn a gold certification in the U.S. Across eight studio albums (Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666; Razorblade Romance; Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights; Love Metal; Dark Light; Venus Doom; Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice; Tears on Tape) HIM built a devoted global fan base. Internal changes and depletion of creative spark led to the group’s farewell tour in 2017, marking the end of a quarter-century-long legacy with over ten million albums sold. Ville Valo, who wrote most of the material, also created the iconic Heartagram logo — a heart merged with a pentagram — symbolizing the band’s thematic duality of love and darkness.