Havokkrier

THE TALENT: Curt Hamen (guitar/vocals), Doug Burch (guitar/vocals), Mark Allen (bass/vocals), Jason Feight (drums)

Great band name — where did that come from?

Jason had suggested “Cry Havoc” by a friend who was quoting Shakespeare. After running it by the rest of the band, Curt researched it and found an Old English spelling that we liked better.

How long have you been together?

The earliest jams were in the spring of 2007 with guitarists Doug and Curt challenging each other. Drummer Jason joined later that summer, and Mark added bass that November.

What other bands did you guys play with before Havokkrier?

We were all in various area metal bands such as The Corps, Anfang, Leven and Nancy.

Describe the music this band plays?

The genre we are closest to is “melodic death metal,” but we describe what we play as well thought out, intricate, skillful, catchy, high-powered metal songs. We are terribly demanding of ourselves when it comes to what we write. We have high expectations for what we produce, and we hope that the effort is noted and appreciated by the audience, who hopefully differentiates our songs from more straight forward songwriters.

What places are you playing these days?

Tornado’s always has a good vibe and a good turnout and 1st Avenue Live is another favorite. We’ve been getting out of town more and more often, including Iowa City, Cedar Falls, Des Moines, Omaha … Most of the venues are bars that focus on live music, but we also have played at some all-ages events.

What does the band strive for?

Our goal is to write music that we love, and love to play. If other people dig it, that’s cool. We would hope that the audience is inspired to tell their friends about us, and come back to see us again. Do we want to rule the world with our music? Hell yeah — doesn’t every band?