Him
And Love Said No

How much does our climate influence our way of living? Quite a lot. Naples, the city of the sun, makes Neapolitans cheerful and witty people, grey London is the symbol of British Style, always refined and polite, and the cold Alps make Austrians firm, determined, polite, and sometimes a bit unfriendly.
In short, we are "children of our Earth," the important thing is, of course, not to make this our way of living and interpreting life.
It seems the Him have ignored my warning, relying on being icy Finns, they have improvised themselves as flag-bearers of Nordic rock, dark and pessimistic, based on the basic concept that everything is love or death.

Nothing to reproach Ville Valo and company, on the contrary, perfectly immersed in the roles of the "knights of the North," they have ignited (I know it's a paradox) the European charts.
Starting from the darkness of Helsinki, they made their way with good-level LPs, until one fine day, they decided to self-proclaim themselves as the main exponents of Gothic Rock.
So after the release of "Love Mortal", in 2004 "And Love Said No" is released, a collection of the best tracks from 1997 to 2003. In the greatest hits, we find the band's biggest successes, from the ambiguous "Your Sweetest Six Six Six" to the sweetest "Join Me In Death", probably the most beautiful piece by Him, certainly one of the best-known.
Amidst so much death, cold, lost loves, and pain, the fusion of all these hybrid elements can only show itself in all its splendor: "The Funeral Of Hearts".
With all due respect to V. Valo, whom I admire greatly, the pessimistic and melancholic vision of love is a bit exaggerated, but still fascinating and enveloping.
No need to emphasize how the sound is sad and decidedly Scandinavian, a bit different from the Samba of South America.
It's a pity that this collection does not include the mystical "Sweet Pandemonium", one of the leading tracks of "Love Mortal".
An absence compensated by the presence of "And Love Said No" and "Wicked Game", the latter one of the best tracks from the early part of the band's career.
Most likely after "Dark Light", the Him will also be known to the 12 and 14-year-old daughters of our neighbor, as the dark angels, as the symbol of dark music; especially for them, it is important to know that the 5 mysterious pale vampires have simply played a lot on their origins, attentive listening to "And Love Said No" will dissolve some clichés about these 5, simple guys from the cold North.

Curiosity: what did Ville Valo do when he decided to dedicate himself to music? He worked as a clerk in his father's sex shop!!
Ah, one last thing: what better day than today to publish this review??