Tears on Tape

HIM’s “Tears on Tape” captures the Finnish band at their commercial peak, balancing goth rock’s melancholic aesthetics with hard rock’s muscular riffs. Released through Universal Music Group, the album finds Ville Valo’s distinctive baritone crooning over lush orchestration and heavy guitar work—a formula that earned the band a devoted global following. The record exemplifies early-2000s goth rock’s mainstream ambitions, blending romantic darkness with arena-ready hooks that proved surprisingly durable across millions of listens.