•  Sources of Soulgrind are dated by 1992 year. What thoughts managed you then and what made you to create a band?

I was playing in Tenebrae, which was a death/ doom band. But I couldn´t use all of the ideas I had with the band. I think Tenebrae had more Death Rock attitude, than dark, deep blacky spheres. I just started to experience with my 8 – tracker and I completed four songs. I sent that out to Markus Woeste and he wanted to release those songs as Santa Sangre EP.

I already used antichristian lyrics with Tenebrae, but I just wanted to make one step further into the pagan land.

2. What can you reminisce about those distant times, when you began Soulgrind as band, where was only you? Why the early albums were very experimental?

Well, I just… experienced and tried out things in the studio. All of the songs were made in the studio and recorded straight away, in a flash. Actually I made lyrics first and then keyboards and drums and the guitars. Maybe that´s why they started to sound so…weird.

I am still proud of some riffs and a couple of songs. But as said, those were experimental albums and the first “real” album was Whitsongs. But I am thinking of redoing one or two songs from the early albums. And we have one live album from 1995 tour, which we are going to mix someday. We haven´t heard it in ten years, so it might sound…interesting.

3. What new horizons in music and lyrics you tried to expose on a new album?

We tried to make songs simple, but still full of stuff and interesting. But we wanted also keep the edge of Soulgrind on the songs, the surprise element. I also wanted to give more room for melodies of Tanya Llilith. With lyrics, I went more into minds of hereticism and paganism. I read a lot of books about Witch-hunts, witchcraft and of course Finnish mythology and poetry. The I mixed that in my mind and result are the lyrics on the new album.

4. A new album released on Holy Rec again. Do you like your collaboration?

Yeah, there has been ups and downs. Now things seem to work fine again. Actually this album were supposed to be the last for Holy records, but we shall do at least one more. We have started to make songs for that already J

How did they promoted and promoting a band all these years?

The promotion could be better. I think they promote big in Benelux countries and the rest of the world is the same “200 promos out and let´s see what happens” – stuff

5. Whether "The Origins of..." is a conceptual album, as, for example, "Whitsongs"?

It is a straight continuing for “Into The Dark Vales Of Death” album, but it is not a concept album. Just tales of love , death , anti christianity and pagan pride.

6. Style of Soulgrind certained by you as dark pagan metal. Therefore, it's interestingly to me, what is paganism for you: faith in gods, worshiping the idols or philosophy of nature?

Paganism presents to me my inner wearness of my aroundness. I respect the past and look for the future. I deny Christianity and want the church to be vanished away. I want people to think on their own, enjoy their lives as they are. The same goes with all of the religions. My paganism is NOT –ism as most think. I have made my own fate. A balance between love and hate, nature and technology, peace and war.

7. Do all participants of a band adhere to the identical ideals and principles? I mean paganism.

In principle, yes. But all in the band are individuals and they have their own thoughts. But all share the hatred towards organized religions.

8. How does the process of writing music and lyrics goes for you? Maybe it doesn't managed without mysticism here?

Some songs begin from a sad or harsh incident and those songs I have made in a few minutes from scrap to finished ones ( for example Kalma, Ylermi, Odious Emotion …) sometimes I just sit down and try things out. If things start to roll on, I continue doing the song. If not, I toss it away. Usually I finish one song in a couple of nights on my computer.

Azhemin does his songs on his apartment and the we get together and complete those.

9. How did you succeed to take out your female vocalist from Lullacry? Is she always wanted to play pagan metal, not goth-rock?

She played in Soulgrind already in 1996 long before Lullacry even existed. She doesn´t like goth rock, I think. She is more bang you head kind of woman. Rough chick. She likes hard rocking street rock bands most I think. Bands like Donnas, The Black League etc… But we do share the love to old thrash metal like Exodus, Whiplash, Stone, Slayer etc..

10. What with Agathon & Azhemin? Strange fact, that they not in Thy Serpent already, where they played very long and what wanted to play.

Azhemin is the main person in Thy Serpent these days, Agathon played drums. I just asked them and they wanted to play in the band. Agathon has been in the band since 1996 and Azhemin since 1999.

11. Your band is a part of Finnish metal-stage, but it's not mainstream, as most bands, as Children Of Bodom (and their clones), Nightwish, Stratovarius... How can you explain this? What do you think about such
phenomenon, as "Finnish metal-trend"?

I saw it coming already in 1997. I actually talked a lot about it in interviews. When Norwegian trend had gone, I said the next big things shall be coming from Finland. People laughed, but look who is laughing now. There are tons and tons of good bands in Finland. This is a heavy metal country for sure. Next bands who shall break are Swallow the Sun, Sear, Reverend Bizarre and Horna.

ALL ARE DIFFERENT and not copy cats. I hate copy cats. I respect Choldren Of Bodom, Stratovarius and Nightwish. They have made it with their own music, not copying. But for bands like Imperator and Sonata Arctica I have NO respect. Pure crap, in my opinion. Just copying and that´s it. And now there are about 1000 and one copies of Nightwish around. Nice looking chick singing crappy opera. Shit, fuck off and die. People are just trying to cash in on the trend.

I still think that originality is the main thing. BUT I am still in the underground, so I might be wrong. Hahhaha. Fuck, I love my music. If there are a couple who also respects my doings, that´s enough. That way I can continue doing albums.

12. Let us be a little cheer at the end of interview. Tell some funny episode from the history of Soulgrind. It seems to me that your "Tanya is nobody's fool:))

Well, he kicks ass of most of the guys around. Tough chick indeed. A funny story. Hmmm we were playing on Hard Rock Lager festival in Estonia and after the gig we had a blast drinking on the festival area. Tbite decided he wanted to be a cool and pure naked bastard and went to the festival only wearing wristbans and metal belt J he made quite a fuzz. Later on he made bumpers out of plastic bags and passed out as Jesus on the camping area J that was extremely funny

13. Conclusions, wishes, messages - as usual, in the end.

Hey, cheers for this cool indepth interview. I hope that we can get there to play some day. Check out the website www.soulgrind.tk and free samples and then rush to the store to get the album. Keep the UG alive and don´t support illegal pressings of the album of ours or any UG bands. Stay metal and stay pagan!