UNE MISÈRE are a young and ambitious Metalcore-band, that released their debut „Sermon“ in late 2019. The five guys played themselves into slots at big European festivals, followed by a few very interesting tours all over the globe, in a very short time. Those are enough reasons catch up with vocalist Jón Már Ásbjörnsson and talk about the quick rise of the band, their first full-length and the underground scene in Iceland.
Hey, how is it going so far?
Hey man – it’s going pretty good!
So many of our readers might not be familiar with UNE MISÈRE. Would you ike to introduce your band?
We are a band from Iceland that’s signed to Nuclear Blast and is booked through Avocado Bookings. We play heavy, hard music and we like for people to be as miserable as us (laughs).
As you said, you’re from Iceland. Why did you decide to give your band a French name? What does it mean to you?
Well, there are a few things to that. For first, we didn’t want to go with the icelandic word – „Eymd“ – because that just sounds like a shitty Black-Metal-Band, which we’re not. In English – „Misery“ – it just doesn’t seem to be enough. It’s kind of a one side of a die. Then we heard it in French from our guitar players, Gunnar, then roommate who is French and we just fell for it. The French language is bigger than others and UNE MISÈRE just sounds more beautiful but at the same time, more painful and difficult.
The last few weeks you’ve been on tour with Darkest Hour. How were the shows going and how is it supporting a band that is about 20 years longer in the metal-game than you are?
The shows went really, really great and the boys in Darkest Hour really were amazing. They put on an insane show every damn night and it was a true privilege to be able to watch them perform so many times. Supporting a band that’s been in the game for so long is nothing but an honor. And to see such a cross cut of fans is a lot of fun. You see the younger kids that appreciate the „old dogs“ and you see the older fans that have been there forever. I love it.
In November you released your debut-album „Sermon“ via Nuclear Blast. Before this you only released a three-song-EP. Could you please explain how it came to the signing with the biggest metal-label in the world before even releasing an album?
Well, a lot of credit goes to our manager, Simon Fulleman with AISA Music. He’s the smartest man in the world and more often than not, he has more faith in us than we do ourselves. But it was also a lot about being in the right place at the right time. As has happened with a lot of our endeavours. That being said – I won’t ever say that we haven’t worked for this. We’ve worked our asses off and we keep doing so haha. We have a clear goal in mind and we aim to finish it. And then some.
So „Sermon“ is a hard hitting record – musically and emotionally. On the one hand there are these very heavy Metal- and Hardcore-Riffs, on the other hand there are some parts with an more atmospheric approach to Post-Metal, which results in a very interesting combination one hasn’t heard that often. So where do you get your inspiration from?
Well, even though each member has been prominent in the Icelandic metal scene before this band, we were all in different sub genres. We come from mathcore, metalcore, grindcore, hardcore – all over. And we’re all listening to such different music but we combine both our past and our present circumstances into our writing. To say it simply – We write the music we think reflects our thinking and that we think sounds good.
„Sermon“ has been out for three months now. How was the feedback? Are you satisfied with how it turned out?
Feedback has been great. Better than we had dared to expect I guess. I mean, the album is taking us to North America in march and to the Impericon Festivals (author’s note: Both has been cancelled or postponed due to the Corona-virus) in april so I can’t complain.
Could you please tell us how the songwriting process for the album was going?
Well, the process has been all over. All from someone bringing a riff or an almost finished song from home or the songs being built from scratch in the rehearsal space. Even in the studio as well. We don’t have a formula of some sorts.
Some of your lyrics seem to be about addiction, especially the ones for „Overlooked / Disregarded“. Is there a story behind it and could you please explain?
Yeah, the lyrics on this album are very personal and written from a personal point of view as they are about addiction, mental health issues, veganism and stuff like that. „Overlooked / Disregarded“ is about being so far in the pit that I started hating people that were really close to me and wanted nothing but good things for me. I just couldn’t see it because I wasn’t myself. I see today though that the blame wasn’t theirs. Nor was it drugs. It was my own and nobody elses. Everyone’s on good terms today though and I’m really thankful for that.
Does „Sermon“ follow a concept or does every song stand for itself? If it does, could you please explain?
Well, every song stands for itself but the overall theme is basically „Don’t give up“.
While the most parts of the record hit right into the face of the listener, there are a few parts that seem uncommon for UNE MISÈRE – for example the clean vocals on „Fallen Eyes“ or the electronic intro of „Beaten“. How came the ideas for these experiments? Do you think about using these elements more often in the future?
Oh we’ll definitely be using more of those experimental ideas in the future. As I said before, we’re all listening to all kinds of music so the influences are coming from whereever and are deliver in a lot of ways. So for those who like the experimental vibes of the album, expect them to return.
For a young band as you are, you have an amazing presence on stage. It seems like the whole band is surrounded by a very special aura – especially yours Jón. How does your stage-acting connect to your music? Is it something you think about before the gig or does it just happen when you enter the stage?
Funny how you say acting. I wouldn’t call it acting as it is just another side of me that I keep repressed until we go to the stage. We’ve often talked about how we take our problems with us up on stage and battle them up there. Sometimes, we win the battle – then we get off the stage quite pleased.
After your European run with Darkest Hour you will leave for your first American tour as support for Thy Art Is Murder and Fit For An Autopsy. What do you expect from this tour with such an amazing line-up?
We expect the same things as everyone else who’s going to the shows – a lot of fun. In my personal opinion, Thy Art and FFAA had two of the biggest albums of last year so this is all very, very exciting for us.
Iceland is not very well known for its Metalcore-scene and none of the bigger tours come over to the island. So could you please tell us something about the scene itself at your home?
Well, the scene itself is quite vibrant here at home but the difference from other scenes may be the fact that although we have subgenres, they all share a bill together every now and then and there really isn’t that much competition between genres or scenes here in Iceland. We all like to help each other out. It’s better that way. Except if you’re an asshole or a bad, shitty person. Then you won’t get any help.
What is your personal favourite UNE-MISÈRE-song and why?
For me personally, I’d have to say „Sin & Guilt“ or „Voiceless“. Those songs are huge. „Sin & Guilt“ has one of my favorite lyrics ever; „Don’t let me forget my pain“ and that’s kind of a cry-out to the people that I have wronged or have wronged me in the past. „Voiceless“ is close to heart as it touches onto veganism and the welfare of animals. Factory farming is intensely horrible and is really something that people should look into before having their next burger or hot dog.
Who is the best newcomer right at the moment?
I don’t know if they count as newcomers but Leeched and Employed To Serve are insanely good.
2020 just started – to which album are looking forward the most?
Well – Leeched just released an insanely heavy album, you should check that out. Other than that – I’m not quite sure of what albums are coming out this year. Well, Heaven Shall Burn are releasing an album. And Parkway Drive. That’s always fun.
In the end of each interview we do the traditional Metal1.info-brainstorming. I give you a few words and you answer with the first that come to your mind:
German beer – WACKEN
Sólstafir – Flying V
Brexit – Actions taken without thinking about the consequenses.
Mozart – Chocolate haha
Thanks for your time! I would leave the last words to you:
If you’re feeling down and like everything is spiralling – talk to someone, contact anyone. There’s no need to go through these things alone. No wound are too deep.
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