Him
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. As of 2007, they are the first and only
Finnish rock band to sell Gold in the United States.
Early career (1992-1996)
In around 1992, before HIM was actually formed, Mige, Ville and Juha Tarvonen
did a demo of 'Xilqa Xilqa Besa Besa'. The band originally played under the name
'Kafferi' (which translates roughly to 'black person' - the guys blocked it out
from old H.P. Lovecraft books,) but they changed it because they felt it
offensive and it aroused some discontent amongst Ville's minority friends. After
Kafferi, their new name was 'Witches and Other Night Fears' (which was later
used as the demo title in 1992). 'Xilqa Xilqa Besa Besa' was basically the basis
of 'Borellus'. Then in 1992, Mige and Ville started another little project
called 'Unga Kaskelottar', and in that February they did a 5 track demo. Some of
their stuff on that demo was rumoured to be named 'Fridge (Insalubrious
Verrucose Uretha)' & 'Tribal Orchestration By Purulent Discharge'. Linde joined
Ville and Mige in 1993.
HIM started out as a cover band, covering songs of artists such as KISS, Type O
Negative, Danzig, Black Sabbath and Depeche Mode. After many lineup changes and
a hiatus from 1991 to 1995 caused by the members' conscription into military
services, the band now consists of the three founding members plus keyboardist
Janne Johannes "Burton" Puurtinen and drummer Mika Kristian "Gas" Karppinen.
In late fall of 1995, HIM released This is Only the Beginning. This too was a
demo tape, with only 100 copies made and sold in specially chosen stores in
Helsinki. It featured the first version HIM had done of "Wicked Game" and "The
Heartless". The tape also includes rare songs "Serpent Ride", "Borellus",
"Stigmata Diaboli" and "The Phantom Gate". This album was done only with Ville
singing and playing drums, while Linde was playing guitar and bass.
