Nearly a decade after Finnish goth rock pioneers HIM played their final show, frontman Ville Valo has revealed he is open to the idea of a future reunion.
Speaking with Metal Hammer, the vocalist reflected on the band’s New Year’s Eve 2017 farewell concert at Tavastia in Helsinki and the current status of his relationship with his former bandmates. While he admitted he hasn’t “really been in touch with them much” recently, he confirmed that the group’s dissolution was entirely amicable and left no lasting bad blood.
“I would love to play with the lads again someday,” Ville Valo stated. “But I miss those fellows. They are my brothers. But there’s also beauty in the fact we didn’t strangle each other at the end, or start travelling in separate limos. So there is that to be said. I felt it was the right way to bury the corpse. HIM was and is my life. It was very hard to let go of that.”
Addressing the core reason behind the 2017 split, the singer emphasized that interpersonal drama was never a factor in their decision to walk away.
“The bittersweet thing about it was that we were still good friends, we’d just grown apart,” he explained. “In regards to the farewell tour, it was nice to play when we had a finite date that it was going to end. By setting the end date first, you don’t have to have reserves. Every night felt like it was our last in a way.”
HIM remains one of Finland’s most commercially successful rock bands. Originally active from 1991 to 1993, the group reformed in 1995 and eventually broke into the global mainstream with their 2000 sophomore record, Razorblade Romance. The band achieved massive international success, with their first five studio records, spanning from 1997’s Greatest Hits Vol. 666 to 2005’s Dark Light, all reaching Platinum status.
Following the end of HIM, the singer launched a solo career under the moniker VV. He released his debut solo album, Neon Noir, in 2023. That specific chapter was formally closed in May 2024 following a milestone headlining performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
At the time, Ville Valo said he is actively writing new material.
“I’ve tried to come up with some new ideas, but they’re not there yet,” he told Metal Hammer just before that show. “There needs to be an ‘Aha!’ moment. It’s not necessarily going to be hugely different for the person who maybe gets to listen to it one day, but those are big deals for me: trying to find a new perspective or a new angle to what I do.”
