Love Metal is the fourth studio album by Finnish gothic rock band HIM. Released on 11 April 2003, HIM began recording demos for the album in northern spring 2002, after an exhausting touring cycle for their previous album, which nearly broke the band up. Excited and invigorated by the new material, HIM entered Finnvox Studios in September 2002 with producer Hiili Hiilesmaa, who had previously helmed the group's 1997 debut album. Musically Love Metal featured a more raw and organic sound, inspired by the band's early influences, which was also seen as a reaction to the difficulties they faced while recording their previous album. Vocalist Ville Valo has since described Love Metal as the album where HIM found their sound. Love Metal was also the band's first album to predominantly feature their logo, the Heartagram, on the cover, while the album's title was coined in the mid-nineties as a description for HIM's musical genre.
 
Love Metal received positive reviews from critics, with many praising the songwriting and calling the album a return to form after Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights. The album charted in eleven countries, reaching number one in Finland and Germany, later going platinum and gold respectively. Love Metal was also the band's first album to chart in the UK and France at number 55 and 141 respectively. Three singles were released, with "The Funeral of Hearts" reaching number one on the Finnish Singles Chart. Music videos were produced for all three singles, with professional skateboarder and Jackass member Bam Margera directing two. Following the album's release, HIM toured the US for the first time, with all of the shows being sold-out.
 
"The Funeral of Hearts" was released in March 2003 as the first single from Love Metal, charting in five countries, including at number one in Finland and number two in Germany. The song also gave the band their first UK chart position at number fifteen. A music video by Stefan Lindfors was also filmed in Lapland, which later won "Best Video" at the 2004 Kerrang! Awards. "The Funeral of Hearts" was also nominated for "Best Single" that year. Love Metal was released on 11 April 2003 in Finland and on 14 April internationally, and charted in eleven countries, peaking at number one in Finland and Germany, number four in Switzerland, and at number five in Austria. The album also reached number 55 on the UK Albums Chart, and later charted at number 117 in the US in 2005. Love Metal was eventually certified platinum in Finland and gold in Germany. The album was also nominated for "Best Album" at the 2003 Kerrang! Awards, as well as "Hard Rock/Metal Album of the Year" at the 2003 Emma Awards, while HIM were nominated for "Band of the Year".