Henri Sorvali
Encyclopedia
Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali, born October 19, 1978, in Finland
, is the guitarist
and keyboardist
of the pagan metal
band Moonsorrow
, and keyboardist
for Finntroll
, and also plays for The Wicked.
He also played keyboards
on a few occasional gigs with The Rasmus
in the late 90's. He has also played in bands called Thunderdogs and Lakupaavi (a side project done as a joke by members of Moonsorrow
), and played as a session musician
on Ensiferum
's self-titled debut album.
Sorvali gets inspiration from bands like Anthrax
, Bal-Sagoth
, Bathory
, Cannibal Corpse
, Darkthrone
, Helheim, Maze of Torment, Merciless
and Thyrfing
. His idols are Frank Zappa
, Danny Elfman
, and Jeremy Soule
.
He is the cousin of Ville Sorvali
, frontman of Moonsorrow
. He has also worked as a music teacher
in the Sibelius
-lukio (Sibelius High School) in Helsinki.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, is the guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
of the pagan metal
Pagan metal
Pagan metal is an umbrella term for heavy metal music which fuses extreme metal with "the pre-Christian traditions of a specific culture or region through thematic concept, rustic melodies, unusual instruments or archaic languages", usually referring to folk metal or black metal. The Norwegian band...
band Moonsorrow
Moonsorrow
Moonsorrow is a pagan metal band formed in Helsinki, Finland, in 1995. Musically, the band incorporates elements of black metal and folk metal in their sound...
, and keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
for Finntroll
Finntroll
Finntroll is a folk metal band from Helsinki, Finland. They combine elements of black metal and folk metal. Finntroll's lyrics are mostly in Swedish, the only exception being the song "Madon Laulu" on Visor Om Slutet...
, and also plays for The Wicked.
He also played keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
on a few occasional gigs with The Rasmus
The Rasmus
The Rasmus are a Finnish rock band that formed in 1995 in Helsinki while the band members were still in upper comprehensive school. The original band members were Lauri Ylönen , Eero Heinonen , Pauli Rantasalmi and Janne Heiskanen...
in the late 90's. He has also played in bands called Thunderdogs and Lakupaavi (a side project done as a joke by members of Moonsorrow
Moonsorrow
Moonsorrow is a pagan metal band formed in Helsinki, Finland, in 1995. Musically, the band incorporates elements of black metal and folk metal in their sound...
), and played as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
on Ensiferum
Ensiferum
Ensiferum is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "heroic folk metal." Since their formation, Ensiferum has released four full-length albums, one EP, one compilation, three singles, and three demo albums and one unreleased album.-Musical...
's self-titled debut album.
Sorvali gets inspiration from bands like Anthrax
Anthrax (band)
Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981. Founded by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker, the band has since released ten studio albums and 20 singles, and an EP featuring Public Enemy. The band was one of the most popular of the 1980s thrash metal scene...
, Bal-Sagoth
Bal-Sagoth
Bal-Sagoth is a symphonic black metal band from Yorkshire, England, formed in 1993.Originally formed as an epic/symphonic black metal band with strong death metal elements, vocalist/lyricist Byron Roberts took the name 'Bal-Sagoth' from the Robert E. Howard short story "The Gods of Bal-Sagoth"...
, Bathory
Bathory (band)
Bathory was a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by Quorthon in 1983. They are regarded as pioneers of both black metal and viking metal. Quorthon remained the main songwriter and member of Bathory for more than two decades. Bathory was permanently ended after Quorthon's death in 2004...
, Cannibal Corpse
Cannibal Corpse
Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band from Buffalo, New York. Formed in 1988, the band has released eleven studio albums, one box set, and one live album...
, Darkthrone
Darkthrone
Darkthrone is a Norwegian black metal band. They formed in 1987 as a death metal band, but after embracing the black metal style in 1991, they became a driving force in the Norwegian black metal scene. For most of this period Darkthrone has consisted of just two musicians, Nocturno Culto and...
, Helheim, Maze of Torment, Merciless
Merciless
Merciless is a Swedish death/thrash metal band. The band was formed during the summer of 1986 in Strängnäs, Sweden by Erik Wallin Fredrik Karlén and Stefan Carlsson . They were inspired of the early fast-playing bands such as Kreator, Sodom, Destruction and Bathory...
and Thyrfing
Thyrfing
Thyrfing is a viking metal band from Sweden. The band is named after the royal sword Tyrfing from Norse mythology.-History:Thyrfing was formed in 1995 by Patrik Lindgren , Jocke Kristensson , Peter Löf and Kimmy Sjölund...
. His idols are Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976...
, and Jeremy Soule
Jeremy Soule
Jeremy Soule is an American composer of soundtracks for film, television and video games. He has won multiple awards and has been described as the "John Williams of video game music" and "a model of success" for Western composers. He has composed soundtracks for over 60 games and over a dozen...
.
He is the cousin of Ville Sorvali
Ville Sorvali
Ville Sorvali is a Finnish musician and music journalist. He is the vocalist, bass guitarist and lyricist for the Finnish pagan metal band Moonsorrow. His cousin Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali is the rhythm guitarist and main songwriter.He speaks fluent Finnish and English, and personally admits to...
, frontman of Moonsorrow
Moonsorrow
Moonsorrow is a pagan metal band formed in Helsinki, Finland, in 1995. Musically, the band incorporates elements of black metal and folk metal in their sound...
. He has also worked as a music teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
in the Sibelius
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
-lukio (Sibelius High School) in Helsinki.