him (band)

HIM or His Infernal Majesty is a metal band, formed by vocalist Ville Valo. The band combines lyrical themes of love and romance with metal. The band was formed in 1994 by vocalist Ville Valo, along with Lily Lazer and Mige Amour. The band released their EP in 1996, titled "666 Ways To Love: Prologue", which features the only publicly known picture of Valo's mother, Anita. They became reasonably well-known throughout Finland because of their cover of Chris Isaak's hit "Wicked Game". In 1997, they received a large amount of exposure in Scandinavia, when their first full length album was released, titled "Greatest Love Songs Volume 666". In 1999, the band released their second full-length album titled "Razorblade Romance"". The album received a large amount of exposure in Europe, when a track titled "Join Me In Death" was featured in the European version of "The 13th Floor"; which reached the top of the German charts in 2000. After the European success they went on to release three more singles from the same album entitled: "Right Here In My Arms", "Poison Girl", and "Gone With The Sin". In 2001, the band released their third full-length album titled "Deep Shadows And Brillant Highlights". They released four singles off that album: "Pretending", "In Joy And Sorrow", "Heartache Every Moment" and "Close To The Flame. After recording Deep Shadows And Brillant Highlights, three members of the group formed a classic rock and roll group called "Daniel Lioneye". The members of that band include Lilly Lazer, Ville Valo and Mige Amour. In 2003, the band released their fourth full-length album title "Love Metal", which was well received by the United States media, in particular the Keerang magazine and also the Rolling Stone magazine. The band did not develop a wide following in the United States until the release of Love Metal. After the release of the album, the band did a United States tour in February of 2003.