Reykjavík Grapevine - dec. 2023, Side 29

29 Music
Filthy
Interview Jazzists With
A Dark Soul
Forsmán’s brave new world
Track By Track Broken Hearts And
Broken Cars
Hipsumhaps tackles life’s hardships
WORDS Francesca Stoppani
IMAGE Art Bicnick
In this Filthy Interview, I
sat down with two members of the
black metal band Forsmán – Haukur
and Viktor. These young Icelanders
came into the black metal scene
fists first with their interesting blend
of influences and dark, nihilistic
lyrics.
“BLACK METAL AND A
HANDFUL OF OTHER
THINGS”
Forsmán was formed towards the
end of 2018 and now comprises
guitarist Haukur, bassist and singer
Viktor, drummer Kári, and guitar-
ist, singer, and lyricist Oddur – but
it took them a few years to solidify
their line-up. They didn’t play their
first gig until January 2020 and
released their first EP, D ö nsum Í
Logans Lj ó ma, in 2021. The goal of
the production was to adhere to the
formula and create a proper Icelan-
dic black metal soundscape.
Forsmán’s lyrics are deeply nihilistic,
often exploring the subject of reli-
gion, particularly organised religion
and the disillusionment people ex-
perience when their faith is shaken.
One of their approaches is to take
old texts and poems, piecing them
together in a way that reveals the
contradictions and illusions inherent
in these belief systems.
“There is a lot of irony and hypocri-
sy in humanity in general. Not only
in religion,” says Haukur, empha-
sising the rage-fuelled sentiments
that prevail in their music and their
inclination to draw inspiration from
old Icelandic poets such as Matthías
Jochumsson, the author of the Ice-
landic national anthem.
Forsmán’s music is black metal at
its core but they’ve added elements
to their upcoming release that make
the sound distinctly theirs. Viktor
describes it as if jazz musicians de-
cided to sprinkle a bit of death and
grindcore into the mix, resulting in
a sound that’s atmospheric, heavy,
highly technical, almost psychedelic
and doom adjacent. With three of
the band members having studied
jazz music at the local music high
school, it’s no surprise that their
music would incorporate unconven-
tional (for metal) elements.
HERE COME THE NORWE-
GIANS
Forsmán has an exciting gig lined
up on November 10 at Gaukurinn
with Norwegian bands Istårn and
Fremtiden. The opportunity came up
when they received an email from
these Norwegian bands, who knew
Forsmán’s music thanks to a friend.
After months of performing at the
same venues in Iceland, Forsmán is
eager to break free from the monot-
ony. “We had always had the goal
of going out of the country to play,”
says Haukur, going on to speak of
the band’s growth. “Even if you saw
us last year, it’s not going to be the
same. We just have a better idea
of who we are and what we want,”
Viktor points out – another reason
not to miss this all-Nordic gig at Ice-
land’s most popular venue.
Forsmán also wants to draw atten-
tion to the upcoming Andkristni
Festival, scheduled for December
21-22 at Gaukurinn bar. This festival,
rooted in the black metal tradition,
has a history spanning over two dec-
ades and promises to be a dark and
immersive experience for all.
Make sure to keep an eye on
Forsmán on Instagram at @forsman-
iceland and don’t miss their upcom-
ing performance with Istårn and
Fremtiden on November 10 and the
Andkristni Festival in December.
WORDS Hipsumhaps
IMAGE Supplied by Hipsum-
haps
If you’ve been follow-
ing Icelandic music in the last few
years, there’s a good chance you are
familiar with the artist Hipsumhaps.
The brainchild of musician Fannar
Ingi Friðþjófsson, Hipsumhaps’
music epitomises everyday bliss.
Their latest album, Ást & Praktík,
was released on October 1. Oh and
by the way, we’ll definitely steal that
song title.
GLEÐITÍÐINDI
I wanted to kick off the album with
a happy jam. This is the first song
that had me and Kiddi feeling like
we were on to something. My little
cousins reassured me that it’s good.
HJARTA
This one follows the story of a hope-
less romantic. That screams for a
saxophone solo. My heart disease is
an inspiration for the drum progres-
sion. A bit of a squirty hi-hat sound
from the drum machine mixed with
live drums.
Á ÉG AÐ HAFA ÁHYGGJUR?
I love the vibe on this one. The demo
was called “Age of Content,” which
is an awesome song title, by the
way. If you’re reading this you have
no rights to use it. Kidding. You can
use it.
GÓÐIR HLUTIR GERAST
HÆÆÆGT
This is a song about my old car. My
first car. I’ve been avoiding trans-
lating my song titles to English but
this one says something about good
things happening slowly. Which is
pretty on point for the recording
process. It took us over 10 attempts
to land this one. Worth it.
SMS
The lyrics probably sound like
bullshit binary unless you had an
old Nokia cellphone. The letters I
shout out in the opening verse are
the ones that appear on the screen
when you hit the keypad while tex-
ting on these phones. What does it
say? That’s for you to find out, buddy.
HUGMYNDIN UM ÞIG
We started recording a love song.
But then I didn’t agree with the
idea of it. It sounded too naive. So I
rewrote the lyrics thinking about the
idea of myself making me want to
become a better person. Even more
naive, but hey.
ANNAN HEIM
It started off with an 808 and gui-
tar melody. I was listening to a lot
of Moby and Fred Again and their
soundscape is so sad and beauti-
ful. Feels lost. This song became
something else when we recorded it
at Sundlaugin.
ÁSTIÐ
An ode to this day’s youth. Their love
and other struggles. A non-binary
waltz.
SKATTEMUS
Skattemus felt relevant as a song
title for my fiance’s tune since we
lived in Denmark for a year. The
album was mostly written during our
stay in Aarhus. I love this song.
ÁST & PRAKTÍK
The ultimate pillow-talk. Title track.
The mood was inspired by a song
on an album I found in my dad’s old
vinyl collection, “Total Control” by
The Motels.
1, 31
I bought a small AKAI MIDI controller
that I could keep in my lap and play
around with while watching TV. I’m
no piano player, but the arpeggiator
on this one is all me. I just turned 31
when I started writing this song and
I connected with that number. It’s a
prime number so nothing adds up
but 1 and the number itself. This one
is for my obsessions.
ÞRJÚ ORÐ
Last but not least. This was one of
the first song ideas I had for this
album. I always called it “Bowie”
because of the chord progression
at the end. If you’re reading this
then thank you for listening to our
album.
This is a song about my old car.
My first car.
Even if you saw us last year, it’s
not going to be the same. We
have a better idea of who we
are and what we want.