The 69 Eyes is a horror-flavored glam rock band from Finland. They formed in Helsinki in the early 1990s. The current members include (left to right in the photo) Timo-Timo on guitar, Bazie on guitar, Jyrki on vocals, Jussi on drums and Archzie on bass. They started off as a "sleaze-metal group," but later albums were influenced by gothic metal. They claimed to have saved gothic rock, and are described by fans as a "Goth 'n' Roll" band.
The band released their first single, Sugarman, in 1990. It resulted in the bands first album Bump 'n' Grind which was only released in Finland in 1992. It was followed in 1995 by another Finnish only release Savage Garden and again in 1997 with Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams.
In 1999, Wasting the Dawn was released internationally on Roadrunner Records. The album's hit single, Wasting the Dawn paid tribute to the Doors' Jim Morrison. The video featured HIM member Ville Valo posing at a snowy cemetery as Jim Morrison.
Spring of 2000 brought the single Gothic Girl which spent months on the Singles Top 10 and on Finnish nation radio playlists. It brought the band their first gold record. After recording their third major album, Blessed Be, the band did their first short tour for Wasting the Dawn in Germany which included a show at the Mera Luna Gothic festival. Support for the tour was Norwegian electro-Goth band Zeromancer.
Released in September 2000, Blessed Be rose straight to number 4 on the Finnish Album Charts and stayed in the top 10 for over a month. The second single was Brandon Lee, the third was The Chair and Stolen Season was the fourth.
In 2002 the band released Paris Kills which would be known as their definitive album. It stayed for weeks as number 1 in Finland and went gold in a month, June 2002. In Germany it rose to number 35 in the first week. After touring Europe and Finland for months, a sold-out show at Helsinki 's famous Tavastia was filmed and documented in November for use in the "Helsinki Vampires" DVD.
