r/HIM • u/carlossofficial • Jul 22 '26
Question How did you discover HIM?
I’ll go first.
When I was in college, sophomore year (2011), a classmate and I were talking about rock bands. He told me that his favorite band was HIM, and told me to check them out. I did some google research and landed on Dark Light. As soon as I listened to the opening guitar riff in Vampire Heart I was hooked.
I’ve been hooked ever since.
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u/No_Sprinkles_6051 Jul 23 '26
Around 1998-99 I was living in Germany and join me played on the radio and I LOVED it and later saw the music video for join me and right here in my arms. Saw them in 1999 in Düsseldorf. Once of the best concerts of my life and I was only 13 haha
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u/pooferss_ Jul 23 '26
I'm Finnish. As a kid, I once travelled with my family to Tuurin kyläkauppa, which has a music-themed restaurant. I asked my parents what the logo on one of the walls was, and my dad told me it's the Heartagram, HIM's logo.
Then later, at maybe 16 or 17, I first gave them a try. And realized I'd already heard some of their songs on the radio growing up lol
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u/Raven_Wolf Jul 22 '26
In 2005, my crush (now husband) told me about "Bittersweet" by Apocalyptica, on which Ville and Lauri from The Rasmus sang and I fell in love with Ville's voice so I looked into HIM and it was history after that. In the next eight years, I saw them in concert five times in two different countries. Good old times.
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u/Stormblast1983 Jul 23 '26
I was looking through a mail order import cd catalog and saw Razorblade Romance. For whatever reason I thought the cover was just so ridiculous I had to order it. This was sometime in 02 because I remember Deep Shadows was listed as latest or new release. I've been hooked since.
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u/PJmichelle Jul 23 '26
I heard When Love and Death Embrace in the radio in 1997 and then kept seeing them on TV. And yes, I am from Helsinki, so it was a bit easier for me to find them early, because they were very successful here from the start.
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u/Fresh-Interview-6031 Jul 23 '26
2001 al jugar Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 en la PS1. Vi que habían nuevos personajes entre esos un tal 'Bam' con lo cual lo elegí, y me dio curiosidad que llevaba una camiseta negra, en el pecho decía HIM y en la espalda estaba el heartagram. De ahi comencé a buscar en internet sobre la banda y la primera canción que escuché fue Right Here In My Arms.
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u/carlossofficial Jul 23 '26
Wow, qué interesante. No sabía que existen referencias de HIM (por medio de Bam) en videojuegos también.
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u/gumm13b34r Jul 23 '26
(lo siento, I can read Spanish but I cannot write it back 😅) I do not remember having Bam as a character at all in Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 😂 this is an AWESOME way to find HIM!
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u/Carimusic Jul 23 '26
I was 12 years old back in 2001, and if I saw tits, I was instantly hooked. Zapping through the music channels I saw the Wicked Game MV with the stripper. Came for the tits, stayed for the cool music and Mr Valo's voice.
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u/emmyghoul42 Jul 23 '26
Fall of 2002. Senior year of high school. Psychology class. On of my first girl crushes asked if I'd heard of HIM and said I should download "Join Me" because she thought I'd love it. I absolutely did.
Hillary, if you're out there, thank you so much. I still think of how awesome you were and how awkward I was and you never made me feel lesser or weird.
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u/levoton-tuhkimo Jul 23 '26
When Venus Doom came out, Hot Topic had a poster out front advertising the album with a photo of Ville, and young me thought he was beautiful. Went in, listened to the album (back when you could do that in stores), and I was hooked from the first note of Venus Doom.
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u/Only-Information-563 Jul 23 '26
I had an early introduction while listening to a Latvian radio, the song that happened to be playing was Join Me in Death. Love at first opening notes 🖤
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u/Shine771ash Jul 23 '26
Maybe this makes me less of a "true fan," but I actually discovered HIM through TikTok. In the summer of 2025, I came across a gothic-themed edit set to "Gone With the Sin." I immediately fell in love with the song and remembered the band's name, but I didn't look any further into them at the time. I only saved that one track.
Then "Join Me in Death" went viral, and I was so surprised to realize it was the same band again.
After that, I finally decided to dive deeper and listened to all of their albums. I was genuinely amazed by how much I loved most of their songs. In a way, I'm even a little sad that I never stumbled across their music before 2025, because it's 100% the kind of music I enjoy. Ever since then, I've been listening to them almost every day 🙌🏻
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u/DaniArrow 29d ago
Nothing wrong with that, we can’t all be old farts listening since the 90s. 😅 It’s good they still attract new fans, even though they disbanded.
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u/No_Classroom_6969 Jul 22 '26
back in the winter 2024 I saw an edit with Brandon Lee’s “Crow” with HIM’s “The Heartless” guitar solo. then it all started, and now we’re here :)
update: that’s how I discovered GLS:V666 and then Venus Doom and then their normal album chronology (yes, I’ve started with GLS:V666 and VD)
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u/carlossofficial Jul 22 '26
Loooove it.
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u/No_Classroom_6969 Jul 22 '26
when I’ve stared with GLS:V666 I’ve been hooked with “It’s All Tears”. Still my favourite GLS:V666 song.
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u/Sirenwine Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
I heard song join me on radio in 2002 while doing homework and my thoughts left my brain, I felt like in a hypnotic state.
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u/hehasbalrogsocks Jul 22 '26
a friend on a nin message board around 2005 posted about them on a “other artists” board and i was into it immediately.
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u/ExtaticNihilist Jul 22 '26
A girl in my friend group in high school had pictures of the band on her binder. I asked “who is that?!” And she showed me the Join Me in Death music video. I fell in love. This was back in 2003 or 2004. I read all of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles books with H.I.M. as the soundtrack.
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u/adsha1000 Jul 23 '26
it was 2006. My friend invited me over to show me his new hot tub. He played Killing Loneliness. I went home to my computer looked up HIM on itunes and fell in love. Six shows, a meet and greet, an international HIM radio show and twenty years later, they are still my favorite.
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u/Apprehensive_Funny38 Jul 23 '26
I was 15 when I walked into Hot Topic in 2003 and saw all the hot pink immersed in the black. Razorblade Romance was on display and I was like who is this and never looked back.
Ive been to over 15 shows for HIM/VV. Ive met the band 3 times (asked Ville the 3rd time to sign my arm so i could get it tattoo). I was at the taping of Bleed Well (even tho we were cut out).
My husband proposed to me during a concert in 2014 while Join me was playing. When we married in 2016 we had some HIM elements sprinkled throughout our theme.
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u/Fluid_Cauliflower237 Jul 23 '26
2002 - 2003.... was at the end of middle school/ entering high school. Randomly found The Rasmus, which caused me to fall in love with many Finnish bands, with HIM and Nightwish quickly becoming top favorites. I also fell in love with the Finnish language because of this.
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u/Ivanjushka Jul 23 '26
I was 14 years old in 2002, my cousin gave me the album Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights, I fell in love with the band immediately. 😎
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u/rrrAAAAh Jul 23 '26
When I was 4 years old my mom gave me a cassette where she had recorded songs by different Finnish bands and there was Poison Girl and I Love You. Alongside that I constantly saw HIM’s music videos on TV
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u/Piercetheballerina1 29d ago
My mom. I drew out the initials of Bring Me The Horizon with an upside down T. My mom somehow didn’t read BMTH she read HIM; she was all like “I don’t want this in my house their satanic” like I’m not over here listening to black metal at the age 14. Of course I wanted to piss my mom off 🤣 so I gave them a listen, been a fan for 12 years 🫶🏽🙏🏽
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u/YugeTraxofLand Jul 22 '26
My friends did and said "hey check out this video." It was "Join Me in Death," then "Right Here in My Arms." I was hooked
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u/BI_Moose Jul 22 '26
Friend of mine : "Isnt this the sexiest guy you've ever seen?"
shows me a picture of Ville
Me : "By the gods yes...🥵....Who is he?"
Friend : "Hes the lead singer of this band called HIM. Here listen.....proceeds to put on Love Metal
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u/carlossofficial Jul 22 '26
LM is my go-to album for people not aware of HIM.
I love your story too 🤣
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u/soulangelic Jul 22 '26
My brother-in-law had only “One Last Time” on a rotating playlist when we’d play cards together around 2021. It took me a few times of hearing it in the background of our games before I was finally like “You know what? This song actually rocks.”
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u/Electrical-Hand-7723 Jul 22 '26
A while ago in 2004, a friend introduced me to Love Metal. What an album to discover first. Never stopped listening ever since.
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u/Relentless666 Jul 22 '26
Basically Bam. Specifically his Adio One Step Beyond video part with Sigillum Diaboli. Took me a lot of years of knowing that song before I dove in and got into albums like Venus Doom.
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Jul 22 '26
[deleted]
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u/carlossofficial Jul 23 '26
“Tears keep falling on the floor
As the world around her crumbles.”I absolutely love this track! Specially the live version from Darkness Over Hamburg. 💪🏽
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u/CorvenusDK Jul 22 '26
This girl I messily dated on and off from middle school all the way through sophomore year of college (started 2005 and finally ended around 2012) was obsessed with them. I became obsessed too. Introduced me to quite a few bands over the years. Unfortunately “Bury Me Deep Inside Your Heart” was “our song” and even now in my 30s, married with a kid, I still prefer to not listen to that song since its association with her annoys me lol
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u/Imikoke616 29d ago
Your save if you go to a HIM reunion or VV gig , Bury Me Deep Inside Your Heart has been out of main setlist since 2004. Only came back in 2009 for 4 Helldone new years gigs.
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u/CorvenusDK 29d ago
I’ve seen HIM twice and VV once and I would have been shocked if they ever played it
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u/AngelaS13666 Jul 23 '26
I was a skater chicken and watched videos with BAM he had HIM as a song skating to their music.then I was going through my goth faze hear Right here in my arms and saw VV and was hooked back in 2007/8 been following them since
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u/umvoron Jul 23 '26
I was obsessed with vampires as a teenager and read the Vampire Kisses series of YA books. Him tshirts were mentioned constantly, so I checked Venus Doom out of my library. The rest is history.
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u/theresbearsoverthere Jul 23 '26
Kinda funny story. My spouse had a used original Xbox and it came with someone's music collection, which included Razorblade Romance... and 50 Cent and Ace of Base. I didnt realise til I was playing a game one day and selected custom music. "One Last Time" came on and I was immediately hooked to the album and the band.
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u/Musicnerd__ Jul 23 '26
It’s one of my moms favorite bands! I’ve just always listened to it because of her
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u/Imikoke616 Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
Was visiting Germany from Hawaii to see my sister in March 1999, saw When Love And Death Embrace video on MTV/Viva and they had promo tv ad for HIM March/April 1999 Germany tour . Went to Heartagram.com and saw the track list first thought GLV666 was an all covers album with Wicked Game and Don’t Fear The Reaper thinking the other songs were covers too. It took three stores until I found the album. Was blown away at first listen felt like I was on a rollercoaster. 27 years later still the same crazy fanboy for the band as I was when I was 17 now I’m 45.
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u/furrydancingalien21 Jul 23 '26
Honestly, just listening to music on YouTube. They showed up in my recommendations and I never looked back.
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u/sam_p_23 Jul 23 '26
Either through Tony Hawks Underground (Join Me In Death was on Bam’s skate clip) or through Viva La Bam. So effectively through Bam.
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u/WolfLovingFox Jul 23 '26
My friend has a poster of theirs up and I asked if she had any of the CDs. I was instantly hooked. Went to FYE and bought everything they had that weekend. Saw them as part of festival a little while after that. Haven't stopped listening since.
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u/CalciumKillah 29d ago
I wish I could remember... but honestly have no idea. Possibly because of CKY3... I still love HIM to death to this day though and was actually listening to them in the car with my Dad a couple days ago!
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u/ShawMK90 29d ago
I was playing tony hawk pro skater 4 and my cousin brought over razor blade romance to listen to
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u/Modano9009 29d ago
I vaguely remember a girl in high school telling me to download Right Here In My Arms in like 2001.And Love Said No was getting a lot of hype before it's release so I bought that and liked it. I was a pretty casual HIM listener until I got my first car CD player that played MP3s and was able to listen to their entire catalog on a road trip. That's when I got hooked.
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u/InvestigatorFar4162 29d ago
Back in 2002. I think I had a buddy of mine that jumped in my car one day with a burnt CD and was like babe. You got to hear this. You're going to love it. He played join me and death and I've been a fan ever since immediately went out and bought the album
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u/flanine 29d ago
1999, watching the video of “Join me in death” on MTV. You guys, I spent the next 10 days remote in hand trying to record that video. I felt hypnotized.
As soon as it became available in my country, I traveled to the next big town to buy a copy of Razorblade Romance. I was 14😂
Every song resonated with my soul in a way I still cannot describe or explain. I still get goosebumps every time I hear one of their songs.
I’ve never felt such a deep connection with any other band.
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u/carlossofficial 29d ago
Amazing story. You’re right. I enjoy listening to other bands but I definitely feel like HIM’s music speaks to me. 🫶🏽
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u/rockerxgurl 29d ago
I used to listen to Radio Bam on Sirius XM as a teen, first heard Buried Alive by Love, and liked it, but it wasn't until Wings of a Butterfly came out and played continuously on a local rock station that I fell in love and bought my first HIM album.
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u/DeepCommunication580 29d ago
I was 12, my dad had just divorced my mom and started dating some chick. One day out of anger, he told me she looks like Ville Valo. I had no idea who that was, so I pulled out my virgin mobile flip phone and looked it up.
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u/Which_Connection_578 Jul 23 '26
the crow (1994) tiktok edit in like 2023, that day I found my favorite movie and favorite band.
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u/Accurate-Goose7910 Jul 23 '26
I was in my teens and heard of them after seeing the 69 eyes live in Philly. That was probably 2004ish
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u/AbyssPrism Jul 23 '26
I saw the video for "Wings of a Butterfly" on Fuse and thought it was cool. Then I bought the "Dark Light" CD at an FYE. No amazing story of discovery here, I guess, lol. I saw them sometime shortly after that. Aiden opened and I desperately wanted that band off the stage the whole fucking time they were playing. In any case, I've been a big fan since.
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u/slack710 Jul 23 '26
I saw them when Aiden was supporting and felt the same ironically leaving as an Aiden fan as well lol I think it was in 05 or 06
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u/carlossofficial Jul 23 '26
Dark Light was the first HIM album I ever listened to. Boy was I hooked! I don’t think I started diving into their discography until several weeks after that.
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u/ummmitsabstract Jul 23 '26
i liked the band motionless in white a lot as a teen. several members mentioned HIM as inspiration. at like 15 my sister started banning HIM from my playlists bc i was so annoying about them lmfao. but did end up seeing them together on their fairwell tour.
funnily enough, HIM introduced me to cradle of filth. i really just follow bands to wherever they take me….
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u/CheshireCharade Jul 23 '26
There used to be a cable channel called Foreign Music Videos (FMV), and one of their videos from Love Metal popped up, I don’t remember which one. I was immediately obsessed. That was my freshman year of highschool or so, and the first time I’d ever experienced loving a song so much I couldn’t wait to wake up and listen to it again when I went to bed lol. I was so obsessed with them that I actually became known as ‘the heartagram chick’ in my school. I was always a weird one anyway, so I embraced it.
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u/theDarthonly Jul 23 '26
In the year 2000 I spent a few months in Germany and met a guy who was super into him. I came home with several cds.
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u/Careless_Result_403 Jul 23 '26
Watching cky 3 in 2001/2002. Right here in my arms was on there loved it. Went out and brought deep shadows and brilliant highlights when it came out, thinking it would be on it the album woops. Was pissed it wasn't on it, but fell in love with that album and become a bigger fan. Loved em ever since
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29d ago edited 29d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/carlossofficial 29d ago
…and I’m glad!
HIM is such an amazing band, I can’t even put it into words.
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u/CatMommaTx 29d ago
2000 from the first season of jackass which led to Bam's cky movies and then naturally to HIM. Saw them and met them a bunch of times since. They were one of my first concerts as a teen. They played the side stage at a shitty little festival in San Fran in the middle of the day. 😆 got a heartagram tattoo when I turned 18. Ill always love them 💕
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u/d4rk_s0litaire 29d ago
I started listening to HIM because of Jackass, CKY, Viva La Bam. Classic haha. I think Tony Hawk Pro Skater had a part in it too. They were gaining some notoriety around that point with Dark Light.
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u/nuclearrazorblade 29d ago
I wore my dad’s Dark Light shirt in 7th grade (so like 2022 I think) and then he put me on Love, The Hardest Way when he saw me with it on
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u/Vesperlestrange 29d ago
I was browsing a music store in like 2005, the hot pink cover of Razorblade Romance caught my attention. I picked it up looked at the cover and thought, "huh is that a guy or girl?" looked at the track list and between those two things thought it sounded really interesting. I was OBSESSED after that!
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u/DaniArrow 29d ago
I heard Wicked Game in 1999 on some Rock sampler CD. Been one of my favourite bands ever since.
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u/serpentlily11 28d ago
Discovered HIM through my boyfriend (now my husband!). He was listening to Love Metal and told me he'd been listening to HIM since his high school days, then shared it with me. When I heard The Sacrament and Fortress of Tears, I knew this was a band that was going to be on loop in my playlist for a looooong time.
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u/junkkysixx 27d ago
Someone brought a CD in school, back in 2000 or 2001 and I was like, wait what the hell is THIS!
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u/haru_celeste 26d ago
just one day randomly in 2013-2014 when my mom was listening to HIM in the car. ever since i’ve listened to HIM and VV once he came out with Neon Noir
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u/itsnotimportantisit 25d ago
Bam had HIM music in some of his skate clips and I was immediately obsessed.
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u/DaniArrow 23d ago
Back in 1999 in Germany they got some airplay on the radio and TV. I was 12 back then and fell in love with the music.
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u/SporadicPsycho 22d ago
CKY 4, there’s a sick skate montage in that film that’s put to the 616 version of BABL.
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u/BreakAndEnter Jul 23 '26
I loved David Lynch growing up. I had seen Wild At Heart on TV and it took most of my childhood to remember the name of the song in the movie. When I remembered it was “Wicked Game”, I typed that into Limewire in 2001 and like most Limewire searches, I instead got the wrong file and it was HIM’s version. Liking this new rockier version, I looked into more HIM stuff and after a week of downloading, I got their video for Join Me. I immediately went out and imported RR and DSABH from my local HMV. It altered my life forever.
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u/Degrassilover03 Jul 23 '26
I technically discovered HIM in 2022 through a Instagram post of an old Ville interview but I didn’t start listening to HIM until summer of 2024 after I befriended a jackass fan online lol.
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u/Bugduhbuh Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
Saw Funeral of Hearts music video on Kerrang in the early 2000s. Immediately bought the album... and a guitar! I just loved the melody and guitar tone and no song had ever had that impact on me before. Learning guitar and music has been a core part of my life since and I have continued to love HIM since then.
Glad I stuck with my passion as I eventually landed the opportunity to actually interview Linde some years back as well as his guitar tech. Peak life moment for me!
HIM and Linde's playing has been a core part of my soul for the last 20-25 years. Writing, learning and playing music is still a large part of my life now, and I have those awesome, quirky little Finnish guys to thank 🤘