Reykjavík Grapevine - jan. 2020, Side 12

12 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 01— 2020
2019 was a banner year for metal
quintet Une Misère. Record label
Nuclear Blast signed them in January,
the same month they released their
first single ‘Damages.’ In November,
they dropped their debut album
‘Sermon,’ which found its way onto
essentially every metalhead’s albums of
the year list. Now, it has earned them
the Grapevine Album of the Year, and
for good reason—each track is a well-
polished anthem to misery.
CELE BRATING
MISERY
But why ‘Sermon’? “A sermon is a
form of celebration,” vocalist Jón
Már Ásbjörnsson explains. When Jón
conceived the title, he envisioned
one of those megachurches where
the minister flies in on a private jet,
preaching to a massive crowd about
how life is great. “I thought, ‘yeah, that’s
proper bullshit,’” he says, laughing. So
instead, the band took the idea and
inverted it. “[‘Sermon’] is a celebration
of misery,” he concludes.
The group may joke about the origins
of the album title, but for Jón, every
moment of ‘Sermon’ is an intimate one.
“The album is written about my times
of addiction where I didn’t feel. And I
wished I could feel,” he says. “Then I got
clean, and I started feeling, and it was
awful, but I was still feeling.”
DON’T FORGET PAIN
While the album centers around Jón’s
journey to sobriety, each member has
their own emotional attachment to
certain songs. “For the impact factor,
the beauty, the anger, for everything
packed into one song, for me, it has to
be ‘Fallen Eyes,’” says guitarist Fannar.
“That one song is every single song on
the album.”
The band’s drummer, Benni, zeroes
in on the track ‘Burdened/Suffering’.
“When we were recording, I finished
it last. It was pretty great to finish it,
and to feel like the sermon is done.” To
him, the song encapsulates everything
they’re trying to do as a band, and pays
homage to their biggest influences. “I
feel like we captured something that we
really wanted to in that song,” he says.
Jón’s favourite tracks are either ‘Sin
& Guilt’ or ‘Voiceless’. The lyrics for
‘Voiceless’ are about veganism, about
which he is very passionate, but ‘Sin
& Guilt,’ he explains, is more personal.
“Don’t let me forget my pain,” he says,
referencing a lyric of the song. “No
matter if someone hurts you or you
hurt someone, it’s your pain. I don’t
wanna forget that.”
2020 VISION
If 2019 was the year Une Misère claimed
their metal throne, 2020 will be the
first year of their reign. “We’re gonna
be really fucking busy in 2020,” Jón says.
“A lot of stuff we can’t talk about yet,
but the things we can talk about we are
really excited about.”
“But we are still recording and
rehearsing new music,” Benni
interjects. “So it’s just a matter of time
until we enter the studio again and do
something new.”
“A sermon is a form of celebration.”
ALBUM OF THE YEAR:
‘SERMON’ BY UNE MISÈRE
Words:
Sam O’Donnell