Une Misère, Iceland’s up and coming blackened hardcore wunderkind, has come under my attention ever since they released their first single ‘Overlooked/Disregarded’ back in 2016. Their evolution over the past three years has been riveting as track after track came out, yet unfortunately without even a hint at a likely EP. A few months ago however Une Misère at long last announced what we all were eagerly awaiting: their first full-length. It won’t be long until you can get your hands on ‘Sermon’ which releases November 1st on Nuclear Blast. In the meantime I’ve had a little chat with vocalist Jón Már Ásbjörnsson who, it seems, is as eager for ‘Sermon’ to come out as we are.

GRIMM: So, Jón Már, good to meet you, man. Thanks a lot for having a chat with me.

My pleasure!

GRIMM: I’ve been digging more and more into grindcore and sludge the past four years, and have been enjoying a hardcore revival in my music selection with bands such as Code Orange, Employed To Serve, Nails, Cult Leader, or Sect among others. That’s how I came across Une Misère. There’s that, and the fact that you’ve been popping up on a few big festivals. Despite this, I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing you play. I didn’t make it in time at Wacken 2017, and Roadburn 2019 was sold out, and even last month, when you played in The Netherlands just past the Belgian border, I was otherwise engaged. I can’t seem to catch a break.

That was a weird show. We played in front of a crowd that wasn’t really up for anything. Also, we were opening for Ingested. The people were there, but they were all just waiting for the headliner. But it was all right.

GRIMM: Such a shame. It may have something to do with the location. You weren’t in a bigger city where the crowds are usually more diverse. In any case I’m getting another shot at seeing Une Misère live in January, where you’re on the bill with Fallujah and the mighty Darkest Hour in Antwerp (Grab your tickets here). At least you’ll be playing within the same genre in a less remote location.

GRIMM: Speaking of which, as an Icelander, you know something about remote locations. Do you and your fellow band members all hail from the same place?

No. Our drummer Beni grew up on a farm on the West coast of Iceland which is basically snowed in for two-thirds of the year, and which is about a six-hour drive away from Reykjavik. I, myself, grew up on the Northern coast, about five hours by car away from the city. The rest of the guys are from the capital. They’ve never seen the dirt road. *laughs*

GRIMM: Wasn’t it difficult to meet up with everyone in order to get Une Misère going? Can’t have been an easy process.

Well, we may have grown up in different parts of the country but by 2012 we had all moved into the capital before starting the band. We’ve been here for all this time, so it wasn’t really an issue. And we’d all been good friends before we decided “Hey, let’s start a band and play the heaviest shit ever”.

This interview continues on page 2.