by Romain LB (Oct 2, 2004)

Ville Hermanni Valo formed HIM in the summer of 1995, with some old friends who shared his vision of a brand of rock Ville himself calls 'love metal'. Their first disc was " 666 Ways to Love ", released in 1996. Since then, the band's members have changed a couple of times but Ville, Migé and Linde have been with the band from the beginning, and are accompanied by Gas and Burton. They say : " You could say that we are the Scandinavian dark version of any boyband, except that we write our own music. Plus, we don't look as good as the Backstreet Boys. " HIM's debut album " Greatest Lovesongs, Vol. 666 " was released in the autumn of 1997, introducing their sound, a vibrant mix of metal and bittersweet pop melodies.

Now HIM is the leader of the " Love Metal " movement. " Razorblade Romance " (January 24th 2000) was recorded at Rockfield Studios, the birthplace of such classics as:

Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, Oasis' (What's The Story), Morning Glory and, as the band are keen to point out, the debut album of Black Sabbath. " Razorblade Romance " was produced by John Fryer who has previously worked with White Zombie, Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode, and includes songs such as Join Me, Poison Girl, Right Here in My Arms and Gone with the Sin. In August 2001, HIM releases "Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights". In April 2003 "love metal" was released, the album defined HIM as a band. In 2003 HIM gained popularity in the UK and released "Razorblade Romance" in the US. 2004 saw HIM release "And love said no", their greatest hits album containing all the singles from 1997-2004.

The future looks very bright for HIM. If you want to listen to HIM’s music, you can go to www.heartagram.com , the official HIM website!

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