MUSIC Finnish band HIM to tour U.S. with its own brand of goth

The band's latest album was written and recorded in an LA-area mansion.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
No matter which continent an artist or a band calls home, a career isn't truly made until American audiences are swayed.
For Finnish goth rock act HIM, that opportunity appeared to have presented itself years ago when the band signed with RCA Records. Though European success followed, the group was somewhat perplexed and dismayed to learn the American branch of RCA -- fixated more on a pop sound with the likes of Clay Aiken -- refused to put out any of its albums stateside.
Talk about being led to the altar but unable to read your vows because your tongue has been ripped out.
"It's an idiotic thing to do," said bassist Mige, calling from Houston. "I mean, we did pretty well back in Europe and it would have been a really good idea I think for RCA to just put it out.
"They don't have to invest anything other than making a couple of copies and putting them in a store but for some reason, they didn't want to do that. But there's always a bright side. We've been touring Europe for 10 years and now we got a chance to do it here, so it's kept things very interesting for us."
After releasing four studio albums over the last eight years and growing an extensive European audience, including a recent performance before 30,000 festivalgoers, HIM finally found an American label home with Warner Bros. Records.
Written in Hollywood
With a new chapter about to begin in the band's history, the outfit bathed itself in red, white and blue for the writing and recording of its latest album, "Dark Light." Holed up in a Los Angeles-area mansion, the goth-inspired, alt-metal-sounding act found much inspiration in its unique dwelling and Hollywood surroundings.
"Yeah, it's a city for broken dreams and very gothic," Mige said. "So under all of that sunshine and palm trees, it's actually a very sad town. It was a good location to make a melancholic album."
The "Dark Light" sessions resulted in a cornucopia of sounds that rock fans will embrace as a fresh breath of air.
Hints of U2 mixed with Black Sabbath falling under The Cult umbrella await music ears frustrated with the post-grunge aesthetic that is rotting today's rock scene.
HIM is touring its bare-bones stage show with an intelligent live presentation that not only showcases the band's powerful emotions and epic anthems but also redefines the term goth. This includes a Wednesday gig at Pittsburgh's Club Zoo and Nov. 11 date at Cleveland's Agora Theatre.
Versions of goth
"The gothic thing is a little bit different from country to country," Mige said.
"In the U.K., where it started, it used to be the Sisters of Mercy wearing cowboy hats and sunglasses and being very intellectual and gloomy about everything. And in Germany, it's like this kind of hillbilly goth thing, where there are these gothic festivals in the middle of nowhere and people are wearing like fake Dracula teeth and eating hot dogs at the same time. That kind of a kitsch goth.
"And here in America, it seems to be there are kids who just wear black and want to have a good time. We don't have a problem with it. We just don't want to wear black lipstick."