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Rock Allegiance Tour Dates Announced

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:46:41 -0400

From HIM’s official Facebook page:

The first batch of dates for the 2013 Rock Allegiance Tour featuring HIM, Volbeat, All That Remains and Airbourne have been announced! Tickets will go on sale this Friday May 17 here:http://www.rockallegiance.com/

8/24 - Twin Lakes, Wis. | Shadow Hill Ranch Festival
8/31 - Tulsa, Okla. | Convention Center
9/3 - Salt Lake City, Utah | Maverick Centre
9/4 - Las Vegas, Nev. | The Joint at the Hard Rock
9/6 - Seattle, Wash. | KISW Pain in the Grass
9/19 - Houston, Texas | Bayou Music Center
9/22 - Atlanta, Ga. | Tabernacle
9/27 - Lowell, Ma. | Tsongas Arena
9/28 - Brooklyn, N.Y. | Brooklyn Waterfront

It's chicken tikka masala lol

Sun, 12 May 2013 21:39:45 -0400

I know lol~

the pics that ville is asking for chikel marsala etc.where is it from?do yoy know?

Sun, 12 May 2013 21:37:36 -0400

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UIOlBcVt9U

Hi, could you possibly scan some interesting thingies from the fanpack? Like that interview you mentioned? When you have the time of course. And you made me laugh really hard with your answer to that last ask!

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:28:30 -0400

I can most certainly try when I have the time, but I’m not exactly sure if the scanner works here at home or not. If not, I can try taking photos with my camera. I’ll leaf through the magazine sometime tonight and pick out some things :o)

And oh god, that answer was like…sleep deprivation setting in.

I would rather have this poster than the one I was sent....

Fri, 10 May 2013 15:13:59 -0400

I would rather have this poster than the one I was sent. It’s less awkward.

Video here: http://goo.gl/ACKrk

What band member do you think you most identify with?

Fri, 10 May 2013 01:34:00 -0400

Probably Burton the most because we both like the same cheesy 80s pop music, and we are both quiet until you get us drunk (as is the same for Linde). And maybe some Ville, because I can act like a total queen sometimes. And Mige, because I have a tendency to go off on extremely weird tangents sometimes. And I’m a huge Pens fan like Gas, so…

Actually, I’m the whole band.

The entire band.

I am HIM.

thank 4 buyeing tearz on tap

What interview is that quote about the military service from? Thanks bby

Fri, 10 May 2013 01:20:27 -0400

It’s from the 30,000 page long interview that Ville did for the TOT magazine from the pre-order or whatever. There might be some scans floating around, but if not, I’ll see if I can’t get my scanner up and running or something. And you’re welcome darling :)

what interview are those gifs from? (The most recent set you just posted)

Fri, 10 May 2013 01:19:03 -0400

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJw4lKX57a4

Interviewer: Did you do military service?

Thu, 09 May 2013 20:40:00 -0400

Interviewer: Did you do military service?
Ville: No, thank god, I had asthma. [...] Linde got what we call the red papers — it means you're insane, incapable for warfare.
Interviewer: He put that on, right? He wasn't really insane?
Ville: It's difficult to tell. The jury's still out on that.

ekdfhwlekjh!!! YOU LIVE IN BALTIMORE?!?! xD I live in Salisbury, MD (just outside of Ocean City)!! =D The mail should be coming soon and if I do get it, I'll just send them another email stating that I got it...lol

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:07:43 -0400

I do, I just moved down here! Yeah, just let them know if you get it, otherwise just leave it be and see what they say.

can you PLEASE gif the ville porn in the new interview? plz and thanks ;)

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:04:00 -0400

lmfao done bby

Requested by Anonymous

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:00:00 -0400

Requested by Anonymous

I just emailed My Favorite Magazine about the fan pack because I haven't gotten mine yet. >.> The mail hasn't come yet today, but I shouldn't have had to wait this long. None of us should have. Not happy with them. If anyone was able to get one of the TOT bundles from HIM, they shipped out quick (I managed to get one) and I've never really had any trouble with getting something from the UK. Doesn't take that long. -.- Hopefully we'll get them soon.

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:00:29 -0400

Where do you live? Because I actually got mine today, and I’m on the east coast (Baltimore). Ironically, I was out this morning taking my dog out for a walk and was able to catch the mail right before the postman left today. See if you get it in the mail today…I think they’ve been sending it out in mass bundles or whatever.

I actually was going to email them today, haha! But I know, I agree. I still think that it’s pretty unacceptable for some of us people having to wait so long for their pre-orders, especially since waiting totally defeats the purpose of pre-ordering. Oh well. I hope you get yours soon!

I haven't gotten my merch yet, and I just received an email yesterday about my $25 refund (which is REALLY strange since I didn't ask for a refund) and on the email it says under item description "out of stock". The only thing I ordered for $25 was a green vinyl back in April (April 12 to be exact) when I preordered my stuff! I'm pretty pissed about the whole situation.

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:51:27 -0400

Ugh! I’m sorry. I ordered from that My Favorite Magazines or whatever, and my stuff came today, actually. I didn’t order the vinyl (seeing as I don’t have a record player — pointless to buy it if you ask me), but I would definitely trying getting in contact with whoever you ordered your vinyl from.

Win a signed Metal Hammer TOT fan pack!

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:43:00 -0400

Win a signed Metal Hammer TOT fan pack!:

Answer the question correctly, submit your information, validate your email, and you have a chance of winning 1 of 5 signed fan packs given away by Metal Hammer.

Competition ends May 27th, 2013.

Did you preorder the album? If so, have you gotten it yet?

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:23:00 -0400

Yes, I did pre-order, and no, I haven’t received it yet. Tbh, I’m kind of pissed — the whole point of pre-ordering is to get your merch before or on (maybe a day or two after) the release date. The last time I pre-ordered anything was for SWRMXS, and everything was fine. I’m going to be sending the company an email within the next day or two if it hasn’t arrived by then. I suggest you do the same.

From HIM’s official Facebook page: Tears On Tape has...

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:14:52 -0400

From HIM’s official Facebook page:

Tears On Tape has debuted at #15 on the Billboard Top 200 with over 20,200 units sold in its first week. To date, this marks the band’s second highest career charting debut in the U.S. The album also debuts on a series of other Billboard charts including #1 on Hard Rock, #1 on Vinyl, #3 on Rock, #3 on Alternative and #8 on Physical.

Thank you to everyone to pre-ordered, bought a CD, or downloaded the album!

Purevolume Q&A: HIM's Ville Valo on Music as Meditation, Pulling Together for Tears on Tape, and Excellent Mascara

Tue, 07 May 2013 20:09:00 -0400

By Tom Lanham

A few weeks ago, HIM bandleader Ville Valo sat in his Helsinki apartment and breathed a long sigh of well-earned relief. He’d just finished examining white-label pressings of his group’s new album, Tears on Tape, and he was finally, at long last, satisfied.

“I was spending many evenings listening to the vinyl and making sure that the fades were working and that everything was sounding the way it should, because there are so many technical aspects that can go wrong,” says the singer, who also carefully monitored every aspect of the music’s uploading to iTunes. “Usually, record companies don’t think about stuff like that, so it has to be the artist to make sure that it all works okay. And it’s okay. So these are the last little steps of the journey that’s been taking the last three years.”   

He’s not kidding. HIM proceedings came to a tragic halt over a year ago when drummer Gas (Mika Karppinen) sustained nerve-damaging injury to his hand, putting not only the completion of Tears on Tape in doubt, but the future of the group, as well. Eventually, Gas recovered, and Valo and company soldiered on with Wagnerian anthems like “Unleash the Red,” “All Lips go Blue” (which you can stream above), and “Drawn & Quartered”—some of their most melodic, hook-spiked material in ages. But not before some serious soul-searching went down … 

PureVolume: You’ve said you’ve had some big moments of emotional revelation recently. Such as … ?

Ville Valo: Well, most of the stuff is obviously personal. But musically speaking, we had a lot of trouble getting this album together because our drummer got ill—his hands got all messed up and he wasn’t able to play for eight months, and we needed to wait. We realized, as a band, that we can’t get anybody else to fill his shoes.

PV: Def Leppard waited through a similar, although much more tragic, situation. You always had to respect them for that.

VV: I know. Indeed. That’s actually one thing I quoted many a time when having meetings with the lads in the band. I said, “You might have problems with your hands, but you actually have them!”

So that was like the icebreaker a couple of times. But it took us eight months to wait until Gas was good, and we weren’t sure if we were gonna make an album, or if the band would continue to exist. So it made everybody sit back and reflect on how much the band means to each individual.

And it’s one of those things that bands—especially rock bands—never have the time to do, because you’re always so busy. There’s always the new tour, the new album, the new whatever. But this time around, it kind of forced us to think a bit and re-evaluate what the whole thing means to us and just how important it is. And obviously, doing all that reflective meditation or whatever you wanna call it, we realized that it is really important, and that made us wait and then really go forward with the new album. So it was sort of an existential crisis.

PV: Left to your own thoughtful devices, do you go out or stay home alone?

VV: Well, it depends on the situation. I’m kind of an on and off guy. If I go out, I go out, and I rarely end up back home. And if I’m staying home, I’m usually just turning into a hermit. So I think it’s important to do both, and I’ve never been good at balancing. I’m one of those guys that, if I end up opening up one beer bottle, it never ends. But then I’ve had a lot of support: I’ve been sharing my home with a female for the past year or so, and that’s a lovely change. There are other things to do now as well as just ruminate and be terribly depressed and be all “Woe is me!”

PV: “Female”? You talk about her like she’s some sort of zoo specimen.

VV: Ha! Well, I think the term “girlfriend” sounds so tacky. So maybe I can use the good old-fashioned way and just say that I’m going steady with somebody. And I’m still trying to figure it all out. But it’s been good.

And in the past year and a half, there’s been a lot of positive stuff happen in my personal life. So that’s helped me get through all that stress with the band. But in the end, music is very important to me, and it’s what I’ve been doing all my life. So I’m really happy that we were actually able to pull ourselves together and create an album like this, that we can be proud of. Girlfriends or not.

PV: When you’re alone with your thoughts, how does an average day go? Do you meditate?

VV: Well, I think that my meditation is music. Usually when I get really frustrated with whatever it may be, I’ll just pick up the nearest acoustic guitar and start strumming away. That’s my way of coping, and my way of getting my head out of the everyday gray world, so to speak.

And I’ve been collecting all sorts of vintage recording equipment over the years, so I’m always just making little demos for myself. And that’s the way I get through many a sleepless night. I think a certain amount of self-editing never harms anybody, otherwise I’d be running out of stories immediately. But I think I’m pretty much an open book, and I lay all my cards on the table, in a way. And I’m happy about that. When we started playing music—even though we grew up with bands like Kiss and Alice Cooper, who had alter egos going on—we just wanted to be ourselves, sort of like, “Take it or leave it.” So I think that makes it way easier: We don’t have to pretend to be anything else other than what we are. We have good days and bad days and everything in between, and that makes it easier to speak the truth—you don’t have to figure out who you are today.

PV: Even with just the title Tears on Tape, though, your legion of female fans might be thinking the same thing: that Ville Valo actually cried. Cried for them!

VV: Oh, Lord! I never thought of it in those terms! Not at all …

PV: But you can’t cry—your mascara would run!

VV: That’s true! But the mascara brands are getting better and better by the day, so you can shed a few tears of joy on occasion. But the whole title for the album came about from the song, which starts with church bells tolling. And it’s about the intro for Black Sabbath’s first album, and more about a general hats-off to our idols. It’s about the tears that everybody from Elvis Presley to Black Sabbath to whomever shed on tape, and the musical milestones that made me want to do what I do, made the band want to do what they do, and kind of got us all together. That’s what Tears on Tape means to me.

PV: And there’s always a whiff of decadence to your material. You’ve never been afraid to walk right up to the abyss and stare in.

VV: Well, the good thing about the abyss is that everyone creates one for themselves, and then it’s your own call: How deep down you want to look into it and see if it looks back. So I think it’s more about just mirroring yourself—accepting the bad and the good and everything in between within one another. So the abyss could just be a plain old mirror.

PV: Ever climb too deep into your own?

VV: Hmm … no. I think the whole journey so far has been so psychedelic that I wouldn’t change a moment. When I was 16 and we formed the band, I would have never thought that it would take us this far, that I would get to meet all the people I’ve met and see all these different sides of human nature.

When we began this conversation, I said when our drummer had trouble with his hands, with the nerve damage and all that—and by the way, he’s A-OK now, everything’s going well—I think that was the first time I was actually able to sit down and reflect on what the hell just happened in the past 18, 19 years. And I guess I’m pretty much proud of 90 percent of it. It’s impossible not to make mistakes. But in essence, making mistakes is very necessary for one to get to know himself or herself better. And to grow as a human being.

Source: http://goo.gl/rnqP7

I really dig your review, I generally agree with it. I do have two ~points~ though idk you can ignore this but I did want to say that 1) with the odd mix of light/heavy, I saw an interview with Ville and he was talking about 'All Lips Go Blue' and he said that he was really trying to incorporate all his influences including like early 60s like The Ronettes (he referenced 'Be My Baby') and Sabbath so that makes sense. also 2) I think with my copy of the album anyway...(ah sorry)

Tue, 07 May 2013 13:40:18 -0400

Oh no, I remember when he said that! I mean, the lighter sounds work with the songs, but it just sounds a bit weird to me, maybe because I’m not used to it and it’ll take some time getting used to. Otherwise, I did think they did a good job of blending those sounds together.

And I’m sorry, but I think your message was cut off and I didn’t get another, haha.

Hey, I just wanted to say that YOU'RE MOTHERFUCKING AMAZING. I loved your review, I agree 253405956% with almost everything you say (also the TOT video, oh god). And then lolhim and your legendary replies.. What I really like is how you don't give a fuck and just say your opinion, it's something not a lot of people do, especially since you are the closest thing to an official blog on tumblr... I just love you okay

Tue, 07 May 2013 13:33:00 -0400

I was trying to hold onto this but I didn’t want you to think I didn’t receive it so I’m just going to post it because this made me smile and I needed that today omg :3 :3 :3