[herinfernalmusicaly]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9W8PFxBikY) 

Very rare video of Ville Valo and June Hyde (who supplied the female vocals on Greatest Love Songs Volume 666) performing I’ve Crossed Oceans of Wine To Find You for a movie called The a Green Fix. 

For those of you that haven’t heard it before it is basically an early demo version of what later became a HIM song titled Resurrection; the seventh track off their  second album Razorblade Romance. This is the first video or version I have come across that features June Hyde’s vocals.

There is something extra magical, and special about HIM demos, they have quite a bit of them and though I love the finished product of each and every one of their songs with every fiber of my being. I love their raw early versions just as much. They hold a certain magical forlorn quality that is so mysterious. I find myself day dreaming, creating stories to them in my head, and this is definitely one to do this to me. 

listen, watch, and let Ville’s magical voice take you away. <3  

[herinfernalmusicaly]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9W8PFxBikY) 

Very rare video of Ville Valo and June Hyde (who supplied the female vocals on Greatest Love Songs Volume 666) performing I've Crossed Oceans of Wine To Find You for a movie called The a Green Fix. 

For those of you that haven't heard it before it is basically an early demo version of what later became a HIM song titled Resurrection; the seventh track off their  second album Razorblade Romance. This is the first video or version I have come across that features June Hyde's vocals.

There is something extra magical, and special about HIM demos, they have quite a bit of them and though I love the finished product of each and every one of their songs with every fiber of my being. I love their raw early versions just as much. They hold a certain magical forlorn quality that is so mysterious. I find myself day dreaming, creating stories to them in my head, and this is definitely one to do this to me. 

listen, watch, and let Ville's magical voice take you away. <3  

[herinfernalmusicaly]

Archie Cruz

This site is where I come to rant a lot of the time, I really wanted to get this off my chest and give my two cents.. Not that anyone asked for it, but you're getting it anyway. I'm sure most Santa Cruz fans are aware of the current drama going on. One of the things I always loved so much about Archie is how sweet he always was with fans when I seen him with them in videos and pictures, the way he would talk to them, always seeming to make everyone feel included and loved. Oh how that has changed.

So, let start with the break up of Santa Cruz. Based off of things that not just Johnny, Middy, and Tazzy have said but Archie himself. We get the idea that Archie was / is? Having a problem with substance abuse. Most believe alcohol which I do too, but I'm pretty certain other substances have had a play as well. So much so that I noticed it before their break up. We also get the idea that help was offered to him several time by the guys and he shot them down. ( Which by the way isn't the issue I have. ) I also heard (and this part is just a rumor I heard from a little bird who shall not be named so I don't if it's true) that he even punched Johnny in the face which is why they kicked him off the tour bus.

Over time before they broke up I started to notice a change in Archie. The way he seemed to be partying all the time, the way he made hardly any appearance in the Cruz 3 Vlogs, the way seemed to go from being a humble, sweet guy to caring more about fame and partying than the music, the way his eyes would follow a camera, the way he seemed to be more concerned with partying in L.A. than working on his music, the way his vocals changed. And now acting like an egotistical jerk. Frst he got into a war messaging back and fourth with a fan who spoke out about the things going on. After she apologized for some things she said he still wouldn't apologize in return for what he said until she basically forced a fake one out of him, then wouldn't answer after she asked if they were okay now, then blocked her. He even said something along the lines of his job is to party and make out with girls. This just made me cringe so hard. It is not a musicians job to party and make out with girls. It's a musicians job to make music. If you become a musician for reasons like that you will never truly go anywhere, you will be your own demise which is what he's doing to himself. Now he's blocked another fan as well. A fan that did absolutely nothing. Like at all. Some of the things he's said to one of his fans has literally brought her to tears.

He's now turned to trying to point his fingers at the other guys, and placing all the blame on them. The way I see it he's the one who's changed, who's acting like this to fans and to the guys who were supposed to be his band mates, best friends, and family. He's the one making posts, talking crap, pointing fingers, saying he's going to do an interview, saying the guys are trying to make him look bad when he's the only one making himself look bad. The other guys made their one post to tell the fans in a respectable way that they were leaving the band because they know they owe us at least that. They've layed low minding their own business, just doing what they do and love ( music ) Santa Cruz ( Which shouldn't be called that anymore ) has turned into the Archie show, when really we know who made it possible for Cruz 3 to happen and that's Johnny. I really hope that Johnny, Middy, and Taz form something because they were the heart of it all and have an undeniable brotherly bond that I love. Whatever they choose to do will be great and I will stand by them. I hope that Archie comes to his senses before he loses everything. With the way he's treating people right now I can't support him. It makes me incredibly sad because I care about him. For now though I have to jump ship.

[herinfernalmusicaly]

Deciphering Lyrics

Shatter Me With Hope~

“The girl who cried love, won’t you come and play with me?

You can be Cassandra, underneath the sword of Damocles

We’ll tear this baby apart wise like Salomon”

Cassandra- Greek myth ‘she who entangles men’, she had the gift of foresight.

Solomon- Biblical, he was the king who said to cut the baby in half. There was two women who were fighting over who was the real mother of a child, and when he said cut the baby in half so they can each have it the real mother said no, the other woman could have the child. Thus, that’s how they found out who the real mother was.

Canticles of ecstacy- medieval style music from the 12 century by Hildegard.

Sword of damocles- The famed “sword of Damocles” dates back to an ancient moral parable popularized by the Roman philosopher Cicero in his 45 B.C. book “Tusculan Disputations.” Cicero’s version of the tale centers on Dionysius II, a tyrannical king who once ruled over the Sicilian city of Syracuse during the fourth and fifth centuries B.C. Though rich and powerful, Dionysius was supremely unhappy. His iron-fisted rule had made him many enemies, and he was tormented by fears of assassination—so much so that he slept in a bedchamber surrounded by a moat and only trusted his daughters to shave his beard with a razor.

As Cicero tells it, the king’s dissatisfaction came to a head one day after a court flatterer named Damocles showered him with compliments and remarked how blissful his life must be. “Since this life delights you,” an annoyed Dionysius replied, “do you wish to taste it yourself and make a trial of my good fortune?” When Damocles agreed, Dionysius seated him on a golden couch and ordered a host of servants wait on him. He was treated to succulent cuts of meat and lavished with scented perfumes and ointments. Damocles couldn’t believe his luck, but just as he was starting to enjoy the life of a king, he noticed that Dionysius had also hung a razor-sharp sword from the ceiling. It was positioned over Damocles’ head, suspended only by a single strand of horsehair. From then on, the courtier’s fear for his life made it impossible for him to savor the opulence of the feast or enjoy the servants. After casting several nervous glances at the blade dangling above him, he asked to be excused, saying he no longer wished to be so fortunate.

For Cicero, the tale of Dionysius and Damocles represented the idea that those in power always labor under the specter of anxiety and death, and that “there can be no happiness for one who is under constant apprehensions.” The parable later became a common motif in medieval literature, and the phrase “sword of Damocles” is now commonly used as a catchall term to describe a looming danger. Likewise, the saying “hanging by a thread” has become shorthand for a fraught or precarious situation.

“She’ll be the witness to the repose of Evelyn

Push the needles into the of canticles of ecstasy

Turn to page forty three

And you’ll know how I feel”

Page 43- The clue Ville put into the song. It refers to a 1947 issue of “Life Magazine”, on the page 43 of which was a photo of Evelyn McHale in death. Evelyn leaped from the top of the Epire State building shortly after meeting with her fiancé. She fell on top of a limousine and moments after had her body immortalized by a photography student. The picture was later featured on page 43 of Life Magazine. It was later reported that Miss McHale had a scribbled note in her pocket which said that her fiancé was “better off without her and she’d "never make a good wife to anyone.”

This reveals how Ville himself is feeling when instructing us to turn to page 43 - that try as he might, he would make the one he loved unhappy. In a sense unworthy of love.

[herinfernalmusicaly]

Deciphering lyrics

Like St. Valentine~

“In the name of love lost

I’m frozen to her and I want you

To come build me a bridge soaked

In gasoline and pass the torch”

In an interview Ville talks about how part of the song has to do with saying “up yours” to relationships, then changing your mind the next day. I think this part has a lot to do with that, I think it means things going bad in a relationship causing him to curse relationship and say he’s done with it, then he meets someone new who changes his mind and makes him do it all over and say “baby let me be your Valentine.”

“Like the couple from Pompeii our dramas put on display

Along with a dove stuffed in a coffin of glass

Entitled "Love lust and the holy ghost”

Couple from Pompeii- Pompeii is an ancient Roman town near Naples in Italy. An eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. destroyed and buried most of the city under 13 and 20 ft of volcanic ash and pumice. The ruins of Pompeii were discovered in the 16th century and a number of artifacts were uncovered, one of which was two bodies locked in a timeless embrace as molten rock and ash swept through the ill- fated city two doomed residents clutched each other in their final moments.

A coffin of glass- The flower-adorned skull of St. Valentine is on display in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome. In the early 1800’s the excavation of a catacomb near Rome yielded skeletal remains and other relics and other relics associated with St. Valentine.

I think those parts speak for themselves- “our dramas put on display.”

[herinfernalmusicaly]

Hello, oh earthlings.

Today I want to talk about a band that I’ve been really loving as of lately. This is a more or less metal band called Ghost also known as Ghost B.C. I first discovered this band a couple of years ago on Spotify and really loved what I heard, so in a moment of inpulsivity while in Vintage Stock I saw their first release, an EP titled Popestar and bought it without knowing what was on it. When I got home I played it, once again loving what I heard, but never played the record again for a year because at that time I had an awful record player that I had just discovered can, and will damage your records. With that being said Ghost was momentarily put on the back burner as I’m also always discovering new music, they were semi forgotten about for a time.

Fast forward to this year it was a cold winter day with a chill in the air, nothing to keep my time occupied I had a brilliant among many ideas, I decided to go through my Release Radar on Spotify. I was going down the list listening to those songs till my eyes landed on a song by none other than Ghost, recognizing them I quickly clicked on the song realizing it was a live track feeling compelled I clicked on the album to find that they had released a live album. Those that know me well know I’m a sucker for live music.I love concerts, I love live albums, I just adore live music. I can literally sit in my room and watch videos of live performances all day. It’s one of things that makes me the happiest, so after listening to that entire live album I started watching their music videos, live performances, listening to each of their albums and doing some research on the band.

  One of the best things about ghost (other than their music of course.) is their anonymity, aesthetic, and ecentric on-stage precsence. each member of this band is masked, never revealing their true identities. The front man and vocalist goes by the name of Papa Emeritus, The rest of the members are dubbed as nameless ghouls. I don’t know why, but I love this about them. It just adds a little extra something special, and unique really getting the wheels of my imagination turning and speculating. Though the true identity of Papa and five former Nameless Ghouls were dispelled when four of those five filed a lawsuit against Papa who is now known to be Tobias Forge. I don’t know who Tobias really is, or looks like, and I don’t want to. I’d rather be left in the dark when it comes to this. With new Nameless Ghouls among the clergy shredding behind their masks, and Papa revealing that over fifteen musicians have taken part of the ceremony (including, but not limited to Dave Grohl.) The anonymity lives on. Meaning you never really know just quite who you could be listening to or watching perform.

Something that’s equally as fascinating to me about this band as someone who’s a bit of a horror buff is their use of, and play on old-school horror imagery in not just their music videos which are so beautifully crafted, but also in their absolutely gorgeous album artwork. They play off of this very tounge-in-cheek Satanic lyricism and have managed to combine their love of horror films and traditions of Scandanavian Metal. For example their debut album Opus Eponymous has artwork on the cover that pulls inspiration from, and plays off of the cover of Salems Lot by Stephen King.

One of the main complaints that die hard Metal heads tend to have is Papa Emeritus doesn’t have typical Metal vocals in the majority of their songs. I however feel that’s a very close minded reason to dislike this bands music. If you see their music as purely Metal you’d be very mistaken. Though Metal is their most prominent and forefront of their genre and sound, they have a plethora of influences that play a part in their music as a whole to create something unique. I personally am very fond of the fact that they’ve taken typical Metal vocals here and there and mixed it with melodic vocals that are the beautiful yin to the instrumentations wicked yang. There’s something in Ghosts dicography for everyone from Metal Heads to Rock N Rollers to Hair Metalists to Thrashers and so on. They even have lost of 70’s influence and some 80s atmosphere. They’ve covered a Beatles song on that same album mentioned earlier, and The tracks “Con Clavi Con Dio” and “Genesis” are sped up Waltzes. With that being said if you’re in the mood for some kick-ass Metal that’s much more than Metal then go listen to these Ghouls.

[herinfernalmusicaly]

Hello, oh earthlings.

    It’s with great pleasure that I welcome you to this blog. Before I get started with the real content I want to give a bit of a back story for the name behind this blog and why I chose it. Music is one of the most important things in the world to me. So, how did my love for music start? Well, it all started when I was ten years old and my oldest brother showed me a song called “Gone With The Sin” Some of you may know what song I’m referring to, some of you may have no idea. To those of you that do: I salute you.

       My dear brother showed me this song because even then I had a little bit of an obsession and fascination with vampires and the song reminded him of a man talking about a lady that is a creature of the night, though that’s not what the song is actually about I do still love that interpretation of it. After my brother showed me that song I began to seek out more of this bands music. When I did I was thrown into a new world and discovered the most beautiful, dark, romantic music that I’ve ever had the immense amount of pleasure to grace my ears with it’s glory.

    The band I speak of, in case your missing out, is HIM (AKA His Infernal Majesty.) This brilliant masterpiece that I speak of is a Love Metal band, (often times considered goth rock) That is fronted by a man named Ville Hermanni Valo.  though every member of this band is great it’s Ville Valo in all his dark, Finnish, romantic, glory that is brilliant beyond belief and makes him HIM.

    Not only does this beautiful man I speak of have the voice of an angel that he has the ability to change from the lowest of enchanting baritones to the most beautiful silky smooth sopranos like the flick of a switch turns a burning light bulb to black, his voice is simply otherworldly and unlike any other that I’ve ever heard. If that’s not enough he’s hands down the most brilliant, poetic, lyricist I’ve managed to discover in my twenty-one years of life. His lyrics are lovely, sweet, and romantic yet dark, metal, haunting, and melancholy. The songs he writes are not merely just songs, or merely just lyrics “it’s poetry carved in flesh.” He’s not just a musician. He’s a musician, artist, writer, poet, a beautiful tortured soul that has suffered for his art.

    With HIM having their fair share of melancholy it should be no surprise that this post will too, after all darlings “it always ends up in tears.” I feel as much if not more sadness, and loss as I did they day that I found out that HIM had decided to disband and announced a farewell tour. Though their disbanding breaks my heart into a million tiny pieces there is some good to come out of it, it brought them back into my life, I fell head over heels in love with this band.

    I’ve basically dedicated my life, (and bank account) to them. I know it’s a little cliche when people say that music saved their life but it truly did for me. Especially last year when I was in a very dark, lonely, and depressed place. HIM, and Ville were the only things I had to lean on and keep my head above water. The only things that kept me sane, the only reason the death of my dog didn’t destroy every last bit of my happiness. Music truly can move mountains, it’s still what gets me through. I owe a massive amount of my life to HIM, not just for being my life raft in the sea of life, but for being the very seed that started my love for music that is now an endless garden.

    Their decision to disband will always break my heart. Especially because of everything they’ve done for me, but at the same time I get why they came to this decision, and support them in it. I hope they each are successful, happy, and fulfill their future endeavors. I wish them greatness and my undieing love. I’m a forever fan whose eternally grateful to them. there will alway be a place in my heart that HIM resides in, and that is why this blog is called HERInfernalMusicaly. In tribute. HIM is not dead. They will live on forever.