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After the success of Sólstafir and HAM, it seems that Iceland found out who will be their next metal stars.

Une Misère’s ascension begun after getting the 4th place at Wacken Metal Battle in 2017 with their amazing hardcore songs inspired by Iceland’s darkest aspects.

Last week, the band signed a contract with Nuclear Blast, but what’s the next step? We’ve talked with Jón Már Ásbjörnsson, the vocalist of the band, and tried to get some answers.

You are one of the biggest metal bands from Iceland, is there any difference between first time you’ve started the band and now? Do people recognize you on the streets?

First of all, thank you and thank you for contacting us. We’re honored. I guess the difference would be within the scene in Iceland since it can be quite closed off in a way. We haven’t yet become “mainstream” in Iceland although we always seem to be getting closer to it. People may recognize us in the street but I highly doubt that it’s because of Une. Iceland is a fairly small country and being nice gets you far so if you’re nice, people know you. We also all have other things that may make us recognizable.

What inspired you to make the band?

We’ve all been friends for quite some time and we all come from different backgrounds and have played in several bands, some of which are still active; so back in April of 2016 we decided to get together and create the “heaviest band in Iceland”. And we did but it didn’t start out as a serious thing but as soon as we had played our first show, we realized that we might have something that was super special. We decided to roll with it and in november of 2016, Une Misère was a thing.

Where does the name of the band come from?

The band name, Une Misère, is directly translated to A Misery. The origin for it as a band name comes from each of our life stories, from us dealing with issues and difficulties and finally having a platform of expression for the “unsolved feelings” that have fallen through – the miseries if you will. Iceland can also be pretty fucking bleak with it’s 9 month darkness and full year nothingness.

You were amazing at Wacken Metal Battle in 2017, what is your best memory from it?

Thank you. My favorite memory from the Wacken show would probably be when Crowbar got on stage and Kirk Windstein said into the mic “Hello Wacken. We are Crowbar. And we’re gonna fuck you.” That was chilling to the bone.

Would you like to be there again this year or soon? Why?

I would definitely like to go back to play Wacken, this year or the next. We were “nothing” when we played there but we were still treated real nice so I would really like to play there again. It’s also so much fun to play for a diverse crowd and “surprising” people that may have entered our show by mistake or only to diss us. Love that. Prove people wrong in a way. Love it.

Some huge name had collaborations with Nuclear Blast, what are you expecting from the future after your announcement from 16th of January?

Well. Everything and nothing I guess. This is a bigger thing than I had ever dared to imagine so I’m not quite sure what to expect. I want everything but I expect nothing. I guess that’s the best way to describe my feelings toward it. If I expect nothing, the smallest thing is beyond awesome. But considering the roster – collabs, splits, guest appearances – all that shit, it would be out of this world. I’m still just a small kid with the posters of those guys on my wall. Now I’m gonna become one of them. It’s crazy.

Do you have any message for your fans and people who are going to read this article?

Yeah, definitely. Don’t do drugs, don’t drink alcohol and go vegan. Save the fucking planet. The message I have for people is the same message we carry in our songs. If you’re feeling fucked, talk to someone. 

What to expect from Une Misère? Greatness in our opinion, but you have to listen them to understand their message!