Finnish alt-metal rockers HIM [ tickets ], who just finished a main-stage stint on the Projekt Revolution tour, are setting out to support their new album with a major North American jaunt.

After shows this month in Greece and Germany, the band will kick off a run of US and Canadian dates Oct. 18 in Sayreville, NJ. HIM has coast-to-coast club and theater shows on the books through Dec. 1, after which the quartet will head for the UK. North American concerts are listed below; overseas dates can be found at the band's website.

A ticket pre-sale offer bundled with HIM's forthcoming album, "Venus Doom," and a fan club membership is available through 10 p.m. tonight (9/5). The public on-sale begins Saturday (9/8). Details are available at HIM's website.

"Venus Doom," scheduled to drop Sept. 18 in the US, follows 2005's "Dark Light," which sold more than 500,000 copies in the US, making HIM the first Finnish band to score a Gold Album certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.

The new set, recorded in the band's home country during the dark, cold winter months, is described by HIM frontman Ville Valo as being "like a trip into my personal hell."

"I felt that we needed a lot less keyboards and there was just going to be more punching to the face type of thing," Valo said in the band's bio, referring to the differences between "Dark Light" and the new album. "That's the direction we're heading--heavier, doomier, and gloomier, and it's great to tour that kind of stuff."

"Venus Doom" is said to have multiple layers, ranging from beautiful melodies to crunchy guitars--a contrast that HIM was striving for.

"The idea to have nine songs was based on Dante's Inferno, 'cause hell has nine layers, so it's like going deeper down into hell and then coming back," Valo said.

One of the tracks, "Sleepwalking Past Hope," surpasses the 10-minute mark. A couple of song samples from the record are streaming at HIM's MySpace page.