Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.05.2019, Blaðsíða 19

Throw Those Horns Up!

Reykjavík Metalfest is back and bigger than ever
“It’ll be one hell of a time,” Ingólfur
Ólafsson says with a grin. One of the
creators of Reykjavík Metalfest, he’s seen
the festival evolve from a small one-day
affair at Gaukurinn to the three-day
extravaganza it is now. This year fea-
tures a world-class lineup of local and
international heavy hitters and Ingólfur
beams with pride as he talks about what
has become one of the highlights on the
Icelandic metal calendar.
“It’s never been this big before,” fel-
low organiser Unnar Sigurðsson adds.
He joined Metalfest after its first year
in 2016. Co-organizer Gerður Sif Ingólf-
sdóttir nods. “I’m so excited for this,”
she adds.
Heavy rebranding
For the first three years of the festival,
you might have heard it called Reykjavík
Deathfest, but this year, the team made
the executive decision to pivot to Reyk-
javík Metalfest. “We felt that the lineup
wasn’t really all death metal anymore,
so it was time to rebrand. The name
Deathfest just didn’t apply anymore,”
says Ingólfur. “We wanted to bring in
more black metal and grindcore and
other kinds of heavy music. Metalfest
is a more fitting name.”
And he’s not exaggerating—this
year’s lineup is truly diverse. From
Auðn’s atmospheric black metal to
the unrelenting extremity of Napalm
Death, most metal forms will have a
representative—a point the organiz-
ers are particularly proud of. Getting
Napalm Death to come to Iceland was
a particular achievement, they empha-
sise. Anybody familiar with the genre
will agree that the very idea of seeing
Napalm Death in as intimate a venue
as Gaukurinn is pretty crazy. You really
won’t find that anywhere but Metalfest.
Bringing Potentiam back
But Metalfest won’t just highlight the
best of new metal, the festival also
makes it a point to highlight the oldest
and greatest hits of Icelandic metal. “We
have this trend where we resurrect old
Icelandic bands that haven’t played for
a long time,” Ingólfur says. Last year
saw the beloved black metal group Gone
Postal reform, while this year’s iteration
will have Icelandic black metal pioneers
Potentiam play their entire 1999 effort
‘Bálsýn.’
It’s a show that Gerður is particularly
jazzed about. “It’ll be the first time they
play the entire record, start to finish,”
she explains excitedly. “It’s the 20th an-
niversary of the album this year.”
More than a show
Alongside the actual festival, Metal-
fest will host a screening of ‘Lords of
Chaos’—Vice’s black metal biopic detail-
ing the feats of Mayhem, Burzum and
more—and the grindcore documentary
‘Slave To The Grind,’ after which there
will be a Q&A with Napalm Death bass-
ist Shane Embury. The festival will also
be hosting panels with metal industry
representatives and journalists at IÐNÓ.
“I’m just excited to stand here and
experience it,” Unnar says. “To see it
happen finally.” Ingólfur nods. “When
we started, we basically wanted to throw
a kick-ass death metal show in Reykja-
vík,” he explains. “And it snowballed and
now we’re here. It’s amazing.”
Words:
Hannah Jane
Cohen
Photo:
Art Bicnick
Words:
Alexander Jean
Le Sage de
Fontenay
Photo:
Tammy Olson /
NYB Marketing
Dept
CULTURE
NEWS
ELECTRIC
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The organisers, fresh from burning down a church
NonYoBiz Records Is
Back In Business
Local electronic label NonYoBiz is back full force
NonYoBiz is an Icelandic electronic
music label run by one Kári Guð-
mundsson—formerly known as Kári
Hypno and currently part of the Hid-
den People music project—and DJ Dol-
phin, who manages the label’s look
and design. It started a few years ago
as an outlet for music and other ex-
periments. The label has been lay-
ing low for a little while now but have
in recent months decided to go full
force into releasing new music for the
masses.
NonYoBiz representatives told
Electric Dreams their goal is “to re-
lease mind-blowing music while not
taking things too seriously.” Kári,
for one, releases music under a few
different aliases. “Hidden People is
a techno-collective consisting of me
and my partner in crime Siggi a.k.a.
Sonny Crockett,” he explains. “For my
Festival
Reykjavík
Metalfest 2019 is
from May 16th to
18th at Gaukurinn.
Tickets are
13,000 ISK.
Music
Listen to NonYoBiz
Records at
nonyobizrecords.
bandcamp.
com and buy
their recent
compilation CD at
Lucky Records
breakbeat-jungle-electro produc-
tions I go by the alias DJ Allskynz.
And I use KARIG313 for my LP re-
cords.”
Amongst other releases, NonYo-
Biz have released two compilation
CDs. The first one came out on Re-
cord Store Day 2015. Meant as a gift
to share with friends and industry
people, it contained contributions
by artists like Ohm, O.D. Wilson and
Hyperboreans. The second was re-
leased on Record Store Day 2019. “It’s
mostly electro tracks, but there are
techno, house and jungle tracks on
there as well,” says Kári.
The second NonYoBiz compilation
features young and up-and-coming
artists like Volruptus, Kosmodod,
Tyler Stratman, Encounter, DJ All-
skynz, Hidden People and Shag. “We
gathered demos from our favourite
Icelandic (and one American) art-
ists and cherry-picked the greatest
tracks,” Kári says. “This time, the CD
has the same look, but in a clear jewel
case with a bunch of cool stickers.”
Another recent release from
the label is a limited-release cas-
sette tape with music under Kári’s
KARIG313 moniker called ‘Dream
Haze,’ which is still available for pur-
chase at Lucky Records and on Band-
camp. “We have a few more releases
lined-up this year, which we are su-
per excited about,” he finishes. “And
we might have a NonYoBiz concert
night this summer, so stay tuned!”
Turn The Dial To 11
Wacken Metal Battle 2019
May 11th - 19:00 - Húrra - 2,900 ISK
Each year, the best of the Icelandic
underground battles it out for a
chance to play at Germany’s
hallowed Wacken Metal Festival. This
iteration features six groups—
Alchemia, Keelrider, Morpholith,
Paladin, Thrill of Confusion, and
Úlfúð—who together will bring you
a night of pure rock madness. Come
for thrash, power, doom and a
whole lot of sweat. Previous winners
Une Misère will headline. HJC
Sex Sells
Hello, Love You Forever
Until May 16th - Gallery Port
Photographer and designer Óskar
Hallgrímsson journeyed to Pattaya,
better known as the “Sin City” of
Thailand and the capital of the sex
industry in Asia, in order to capture
the reality of that beautiful and sad
city. At this special exhibit, he’ll
present his new book about the
project, ‘Hello, Love You Forever,’
along with a selection of works
alongside it. HJC
We Love Gardening
Let’s Plant Trees!
May 11th & June 1st - 9:00 -
Helguskógar - Free!
Music lovers are slowly learning
that our festival-attending,
plastic-glass-swigging, Spotify-
streaming, vinyl-collecting ways
have an environmental cost.
Iceland Music is giving us a chance
to help fix it with the “Let’s Plant
Trees!” initiative. Aiming to offset
the carbon footprint of the music
industry, it’s free to take part—
register at bit.ly/PlontumTrjam. JR