Some bands lose their edge as they mature, and their live-performance enthusiasm becomes a distant memory to fans who were on board since the early days. HIM has definitely escaped that curse.

 

The Finnish gothic rock/metal band, currently on a North and South American tour promoting their newest release, Tears On Tape, made a stop in Atlanta on March 18. Fans have been anticipating HIM's return to our shore after the band canceled their 2013 North American tour when lead singer Ville Valo was diagnosed with pneumonia. The reunion did not disappoint. The mixture of explosive energy, melody and audience-teasing dialogue fans have come to expect from HIM's live shows kept the crowd at Center Stage hooked until the end.

 

Before HIM took the stage, British progressive rockers Anathema built up a melancholy prelude, easing listeners into the headliners' unique brand of energy and harmony. Anathema, which have shifted over the years from a doom metal sound to alternative and progressive tones, kept the audience floating through a surreal world of lights shimmering in the distance and hard-to-put-into-words regrets. Their set list included favorites like "Thin Air" and "Untouchable” (part one and two), which left the audience pondering questions that keep us all up at night: "Why I should follow my heart/Why I should follow my heart/ Why I should fall apart."

 

Then came the Finnish invasion, taking over the small but enthusiastic crowd, which submitted wholeheartedly. HIM led the charge with concert favorites "Buried Alive by Love," "Wings of a Butterfly," and "Right Here In My Arms," and explored songs from nearly every album, from the debut Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666 to the recent Tears on Tape. The set list included surprises like the rarely-played live "For You," and a vocal treat in Valo's bluesy improv of "Funeral of Hearts."

 

Pulsating light colored the theater blue, green and white, in tone with the old-school rock-like performance, as the Finns moved against a backdrop of heartagrams, the symbol that has become synonymous with HIM's name.

 

After almost two decades together, the Finns still manage to play like old friends exploring music in a garage and planning to overturn the world. Guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindstrom, who this time around traded in "clean" riffs for an exclusively distorted sound, displayed an impressive amount of badassery in his solos, while bassist Mikko “Mige” Paananen exuded contagious energy. For the entire show, the stage was Mige's backyard, and he was a child playing the world's most captivating game.

 

After the opening songs, Valo joined in with the acoustic guitar, adding another dimension to the layered harmony that best defines HIM's sound. But the singer's greatest strength remains his ability to play the heartstrings of any audience, with versatile vocals ranging from sensual croons and demonic-low bass to the highest pitches a baritone can attain. Valo, whose romantic teenager persona has survived success and the passing years, did not shy away from a heartfelt performance, reminding fans that music will never be just a job to the godfathers of "love metal."

 

Drummer Mika “Gas Lipstick” Karppinen's benign smile as he kept up a hellish rhythm behind the walls of his plexiglass cage and keyboardist Janne “Emerson Burton” Puurtinen's relaxed, natural performance provided a nice counterbalance to the front-line trio's intense burning.

 

Although Valo kept his interaction with the audience to a minimum, sacrificing some of the banter and surprises fans have come to expect in favor of a tireless performance, the crowd enjoyed watching the five engage in a playful musical dialogue with each other.

 

The evening ended with the love-lamenting "When Love and Death Embrace," which, in Valo's words, "brought back the winter from Finland - and Santa Clause." The last of the encore songs left fans longing for endless Finnish winters, with Christmas treats shaped like heartagrams.