HIM (Finnish band)

HIM is a rock band from Finland formed in 1991 by vocalist Ville Valo, guitarist Mikko Lindström, and bassist Mikko Paananen. They have released six full length albums to date.

Genre
HIM's genre is debated in some circles; their musical style is often referred to as "love metal" by Valo and by the group's fans. Ville Valo has stated that the band started as a "Black Sabbath tribute band of sorts". Valo stated in an interview on the Love Metal Archives Vol. I DVD, that he was fed up with journalists and interviewers asking him (Valo), and the rest of the band what the genre of HIM was. He said in answer to that question, they created the genre "love metal" (which was also the name of their 2003 album.) Critics have referred to them as gothic rock, gothic metal, alternative rock, hard rock, "neo-glam", alternative metal, doom metal.

Name confusion
HIM, also known as 'His Infernal Majesty', is not to be confused with Infernäl Mäjesty, a Canadian thrash metal band, formed in Toronto in 1986; HiM an American post-rock band; or 4Him, a Contemporary Christian group.

Their first band name was His Infernal Majesty. The band changed the name to HIM from the "Wicked Game" single onwards, though the single for "Your Sweet Six Six Six" includes a 'His Infernal Majesty' sticker.

Their second major US release, Razorblade Romance, was released under the name HER because a Chicago based post-rock band named HiM held the trademark on the name. While they toured Europe, primarily Germany, at this time, they used the name HIM and HER. HIM eventually bought the rights to the name "HIM" in the United States and used it worldwide from there on. HIM has also had other names like Black Salem and Thulsa Doom (in 2000-2002), when as stated above the band had problems with the name in the U.S. Those names have been used in several gigs, mostly in Finland, HIM's native country.

In the official HIM biography, Synnin Viemää, Ville Valo admitted to making things up and joking about the name during interviews, leading to conflicting accounts of the origin of the name and the confusion that exists today. During an interview, Valo has said:

In almost every interview someone asks what does HIM stand for. I can't even remember our latest lie about that. When Hanson was hot, we said it means Hanson Is Murder. The name doesn't have a particular history. His Infernal Majesty was a totally different band. I think HIM derives from some death metal joke. And it was our protest to Haile Selassie's rastafarian religion, he used to be called His Imperial Majesty. But nowadays because of Linde's hair, we actually might be supporting him.

Current members

 * Ville Valo — lead vocals, acoustic guitar (1991–present)
 * Mikko "Linde" Lindström — lead guitar, acoustic guitar (1991–present)
 * Mikko "Migé" Paananen — bass guitar, backing vocals (1991–present)
 * Mika "Gas Lipstick" Karppinen — drums, percussion (1999–present)
 * Janne "Burton" Puurtinen — keyboards, backing vocals (2001–present)

Former members

 * Juippi — drums, percussion (1991–1992)
 * Tarvonen — drums, percussion (1991–1992)
 * Oki — guitar (1992–1996)
 * Antto Melasniemi — keyboards (1995–1999)
 * Juhana Tuomas "Pätkä" Rantala — drums, percussion (1995–1999)
 * Jussi-Mikko "Juska" Salminen — keyboards (1999–2001)

Discography

 * 1997: Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666
 * 1999: Razorblade Romance
 * 2001: Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights
 * 2003: Love Metal
 * 2005: Dark Light
 * 2007: Venus Doom
 * 2010: Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice