Daniel Lioneye

The King of Rock 'n Roll (2001)

Daniel Lioneye was formed by HIM-members Mikko "Linde" Lindström, Ville Valo, and Mikko "Mige" Paananen. Guitarist-vocalist Lindström shared the Daniel Lioneye -moniker, while drummer Valo performed under the pseudonym Bil Bao. According to Valo, the band was born as a way to relieve stress, brought on by the amount of success HIM was achieving at the time. Prior to the group's debut album, the band had only played a few shows at various parties around Finland.

When the group entered the studio with producer Hiili Hiilesmaa, they only had three songs ready, and rest were written while recording. According to Lindström, none of the material was initially intended to be released, as the group had already collaborated with Hiilesmaa for many years on unreleased experimental music. Daniel Lioneye eventually decided to release their debut album The King of Rock 'n Roll "as a joke" in the spring of 2001 in Finland and Germany The album's release was followed by a three-date festival tour across Finland. Described as "psychedelic stoner rock", with lyrics largely dealing with themes of "sex, drugs and rock n' roll", The King of Rock 'n Roll received negative reviews from critics, with Pertti Ojala of Soundi calling the album "dirty, loud and diversely unpleasant". Despite this, the album's title-track was later used by professional skateboarder and television personality Bam Margera as the opening theme for his TV series Viva La Bam. The song later became the second-most-played Finnish song in the world in 2006.

Vol. II (2010-2011)

In February 2010, Daniel Lioneye announced they would release their sophomore album Vol. II in April, 2010, via The End Records. Now with fellow HIM-member Janne "Burton" Puurtinen on keyboards, as well Black Vomit Bolton replacing Ville Valo on drums, Daniel Lioneye's second album was much heavier than their debut, and was described as "extreme rock n' roll", with influences from black metal. Vol. II received mixed reviews, with Antti Mattila of Soundi awarding it three out of five stars, while Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic called it "clearly a hit-and-miss affair". In 2011, Daniel Lioneye embarked on their first tour of the United States, supporting Cradle of Filth, with Seppo Tarvainen on drums, as well as Manu on backing vocals.

Vol. III (2014, 2016-present)

On December 30, 2014, the original line-up of Daniel Lioneye reunited for a performance at HIM's annual New Year's Eve -festival Helldone. When asked about the possibility of new music, Lindström stated that "Let's see if something could happen already next year." On June 29, 2016, Daniel Lioneye announced that they would release their third album Vol. III on August 19, with Lindström on guitar and vocals, Mige on bass, Burton on keyboards and Tarvainen on drums. The band also announced five tour dates across Finland, for September 2016. On June 30, 2016, Daniel Lioneye released the official track-listing for Vol. III, as well as its first single "Ravensong". According to Lindström, musically the album would be a combination of its two predecessors, with "more fuzz-guitar, more singing, and less growling".

On August 4, Daniel Lioneye released the official music video for the song "Aetherside", directed by Matti Penttila. Vol. III received positive reviews from critics, with Neil Z. Yeung of Allmusic stating "Vol. III is [Daniel Lioneye's] most accomplished effort, balanced by equal measures of ferocity and harmony, professionally on par with anything the guys have done with HIM", which was echoed by Jarkko Jokelainen of Helsingin Sanomat, who gave the album four out of five stars.

Discography

Members