MZ666: How was the band formed?
SH: Ilkka and Ville( our guitarist and vocalist) stumbled together when they were seeking for musicians to form a good band. Then Ville recommended Janne to play the bass and Hessu for drums. After all they were old mates.

MZ666: Where did the band name originate?
SH: Janne and Ville came up with Soulhavoc. That´s just the best name to describe our music. Actually there´s a funny coincidence behind that name. Janne was thinking by his self that Soulhavoc would be the best name for us cause it sounds like us. I mean when you say Soulhavoc the first thing that pops up in mind is that kind of music that we play. Anyhow, the next day Janne and Ville met in library and Janne told Ville as the first thing that Soulhavoc will be the bands name. The coincidence was that same night when Janne came up with that name, Ville had written lyrics for a song named Havoc of Life

MZ666: How did you learn to play music Self Taught/Music School?
SH: Mostly self taught by playing along with some good old heavy classics. That´s the best learning method if you don´t want to sound like everybody else. Of course you have to add some own flavours to your playing. Just make your playing sound like you. But the basics we´ve learned in music school.

 
MZ666:Tell me about your band - How long have you been together, how did you all meet, etc?

SH: With Soulhavoc the action started in late summer of 2004 when couple of our old bands braked up. Ville and Ilkka met by Internet in a Finnish
musicians forum and they had a feeling that this could come up with something great. Hessu and Ville are old mates, they go way back together and they have played together before. Janne came along in 2003 when he and Ville met, surprise surprise, by Internet. We just started to rehearse
Between mates and realized that this band has real potential. Our other guitarist Arto came along as a session musician to studio, but he handled The job so great that we just got to take him as official band member.

MZ666: How would you best describe your style of music?
SH: Our music is a combination of Scandinavian death metal, hard rock, some Good old school heavy metal and artistic insanity.

MZ666: What would be your ultimate gig lineup?
SH: Hard one. There´s so many good musicians in the world. But I think that vocals would be handling Mikael Stanne from Dark Tranquillity, drums Kai Hahto, from Rotten Sound and Wintersun, guitars Peter TÃgtgren and Zakk Wylde and bass by Steve Harris. That should be very interesting group to see play together 

MZ666: Who writes your lyrics, music and what subjects do they deal with?
SH: Ville has taken the full responsibility of lyrics and Ilkka writes the music. Janne has also made a few riffs, but he´s just the bass player and so on; Subjects of our music is mostly difficulties of life. It´s pretty hard to describe what´s the message in our music, cause Ville writes almost every line based on his own experiences. But don´t take everything so Serious. He´s not really so desperate and depressed as the lyrics. The basic subject line is the lonely path filled with misery and depression, witch leads to nowhere. One divergence is the opening track of our album witch Treats the adventures of “the great W” in the eastern countries.

MZ666:What is your favorite song to perform? Why?
SH: I have to say that the last song of our album, Circle is Closing, has everything, the feeling, the brutality, the misery and all, that makes the song my favorite to perform.

MZ666:How many releases do you have out right now?
SH: Just finished recording our first one and it will be out at April.
MZ666:Anything you guys do before a show to get pumped up?
SH: Just concentrating good and meditating. Hehheh. The aggression and “the final pump up” comes from the audience. It´s the best feeling when you´re playing your songs on stage and people go crazy. That´s when we go crazy Too.  And we are almost always pumped up for shows. We give no Disappointments for audience never. Even if just a punch of metal  heads of Hundreds of people would come to see us. We give always 110%

MZ666:What was your most memorable show? Why?
SH: We haven´t perform so many times yet, cause we are still newcomers in the metal scene, but the first show is always something to remember. It´s
great when you´re nervous and your palms are sweating and when you go on Stage you realize that all is going absolutely perfect. Maybe we can discuss This subject again when we come play to states

MZ666:What are some of your favorite place's to play?
SH: There are few small clubs in Finland where the atmosphere is great. But I think in Europe the ultimate gig place is Wacken Open Air- metal festival in Germany or Dynamo Open Air in Russia. But US tour would also be great,We would rock the shit out of you

MZ666:Do you have any advice for people starting a band?
SH: First of all you have to make sure that everyone comes along good, be friends inside the band and support each other. Then start rehearsing and do not go to studio or to perform live before you know your own songs better Than your own pockets. And do not start a band before you learn how to play

MZ666:What is your impression of the Metal music scene?
SH: There´s a shitload of new great bands, like us, in the scene. So I think that scene is feeling fine. Especially in Finland there´s plenty of good Bands. Maybe it´s hard for smaller bands to make a name cause everyone is so Skeptical nowadays. There´s a massive potential in small bands but all they Need is to be noticed. There for it´s a big deal that we have webzines etc. Like this here

MZ666: The biggest thing to rock the metal scene recently has been the
terrible murder of Dimebag of Damageplan/Pantera. Has this changed Your mind of playing live?
SH: It was a huge shock for us, Dime was one of the biggest influences for me ever,Rest in peace Dime.It didn´t really change our mind but it gave us something to think about. Is the world really gone so insane that musicians have to wear Kevlar to Perform safely. I mean, what´s that shit? I think that people like that shooter should not be able to walk free at the streets. Actually they should Be all locked down to gas chamber.

MZ666:Who are some of the influences on your band?
SH: Well as already said, Dimebag is one of the biggest influences. But dudes like Peter Tägtgren from Hypocrisy, Jon NÃdtveidt from Dissection, ofcourse Chuck from Death and Zakk Wylde had made a big influence to our Playing also. But maybe the biggest influences are In Flames, Dark Tranquillity and all the other Goteborg fellas.

MZ666: Thanks for the interview. (You can hear more of This band in our link Section. Stay Metal, Stay Brutal. Any last comments for our readers?
SH: Thank you Steve. Everybody go now and check out our website at www.soulhavoc.com and stay tuned when our album comes out.And as Steve said; Stay Metal, Stay Brutal.