Finnish rock giants H.I.M.'s new album, Tears On Tape, will be released on April 30th on Razor & Tie in North America. Jason Price of Icon Vs. Icon recently sat down with frontman Ville Valo to discuss his musical influences, the creation of Tears On Tape, the longevity of the band and what the future may hold for them. An excerpt follows:

Q: When you headed into the studio for Tears On Tape, what were your expectations? Was there something you all had in mind you wanted to achieve?

A: "We more or less wanted to work with the Finnish producer Hiili Hiilesmaa at a studio called Finnvox where we have worked a gazillion times before. We also wanted to use Tim Palmer as the mix engineer. It was exactly the same team we used when we worked on Love Metal back in 2003 and on Venus Doom a few years later. With that team we pretty much knew what we were going to get but those two gentlemen really made it easy for us to really get deep into the heart of the process as opposed to having to introduce our macabre sense of humor and our musical perversions. It made the whole process fast, easy and painless. That is the reason we wanted to do it that way. We just wanted to have the album more lively, organic and noisy. We wanted it lively and analog in a way, even though it was digitally recorded and we didn't want to over-polish it. That is what those two people do really well. They let the music live as opposed to crushing it to death.

Read the complete interview at this location.

This week, H.I.M. are making available snippets of new songs from Tears On Tape. Through Friday April 26th, fans will be able to preview new songs each day at TearsOnTape.US.

H.I.M. has also announced a very special Record Release Signing in Los Angeles, CA on May 4th. The first 300 fans to purchase Tears On Tape from Soundcheck Hollywood will receive a wristband to access the signing with the band. The event will take place at 4 PM at Soundcheck Hollywood (located at 8872 West Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California).

Due to overwhelming demand, Tears On Tape is being made available for pre-order in two brand new, limited edition color vinyl pressings (translucent green apple and translucent royal blue). Previous vinyl pressings in both transparent and cream color are now completely sold out.

The new vinyl pre-orders come with a full digital album download upon release date. Order here.

The album’s artwork, which artist Daniel P Carter describes as having come about via “a series of strange coincidences involving Lee Dorrian, sacred geometry and the ramblings of a madman” is revealed below.

Tears On Tape tracklisting:

'Unleash The Red'

'All Lips Go Blue'

'Love Without Tears'

'I Will Be The End Of You'

'Tears On Tape'

'Into The Night'

'Hearts At War'

'Trapped In Autumn'

'No Love'

'Drawn & Quartered'

'Lucifer's Chorale'

'W.L.S.T.D.'

'Kiss The Void'

The video for the album's title track can be seen below:

Listen to the album track, 'All Lips Go Blue', streaming below:

Three track-by-track clips can be seen below:

In addition to the 13 new tracks, the very exclusive and very limited Fanpack, presented by Metal Hammer magazine and DoubleCross Records features some not-to-be-found-anywhere-else content. Exclusively available from April 29th for four weeks, it comes with a bespoke 132-page magazine edited by frontman Ville Valo, that plays as the ultimate sleeve notes to the album, including:

* Full studio album plus two bonus tracks ('Buried Alive By Love' and 'The Kiss Of Dawn' recorded live in the studio).

* Giant double-sided door poster.

* Exclusive interviews with Ville Valo and all members of H.I.M.

* An extended track-by-track guide to Tears On Tape.

* An interview with the architects behind the sound of Love Metal Hiili Hiilesmaa and Tim Palmer.

* A detailed guide to H.I.M.’s extensive back-catalogue.

* The true, exclusive story of the Heartagram.

* An exclusive gallery from the band’s own private collections.

* Interviews by the band with as assortment of their own heroes.

Tears On Tape is the Love Metal band’s eighth official album and was recorded in their home country with long-time producer Hiili Hiilesmaa and once again mixed by long time-band associate, Tim Palmer (U2, OZZY OSBOURNE, PEARL JAM, ROBERT PLANT).

Formed in 1992 by vocalist Ville Valo, guitarist Mikko “Linde” Lindström, and bassist Mikko “Migé” Paananen, H.I.M.’s previous albums have seen them win a worldwide following, becoming the first Finnish act to achieve platinum sales in the US. To date, H.I.M. has sold a combined 1.75 million albums and over 1 million digital tracks in North America.

H.I.M.’s current lineup is: Valo (Vocals), Linde (Guitars), Migé (Bass), Burton (Keyboards), and Gas (Drums).

A formidable live act, the band is also confirmed to perform at this year’s U.K. Download Festival in mid-June.

H.I.M. have announced their first North American headline tour in support of their forthcoming new studio album, Tears On Tape. Dubbed Tears On Tour, the May 2013 run will make scheduled stops in both Los Angeles and New York City (tour dates below).

Tour dates:

May

3 - Los Angeles, CA- House Of Blues
5 - San Francisco, CA- The Fillmore

8- Chicago, IL - House Of Blues

9 - Toronto Canada -Danforth Music Hall
10 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
12 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre Of Living Arts

More on H.I.M. at this location.