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: Now concerning ‘Sermon’. How’s the reception been so far?

It’s been better than we had ever expected. You always think that your music is good. Because if you didn’t you wouldn’t record it and release it. The response from the media, the label, the producer, and the people around us keeps you motivated. It keeps your eyes on the prize. The album’s been ready since early this year and we’ve been dying to release it. November 1st can’t get here soon enough, man.

GRIMM: If it’s any consolation, we’ve been dying for it to release as well.

Thanks, man. We appreciate it.

GRIMM: I do however have some questions about releasing so many songs early on. The oldest song ‘Overlooked/Disregarded’ is three years old. Ever get sick of playing those songs?

Every time we play older songs, it still feels like the first time. They still bring up the feeling I had when I wrote them. That goes for all our songs. We don’t get bored with them. On the contrary, they become more etched in our minds. It becomes more important to us to play those songs, because of where they got us today. When I look at where I was when I wrote that song, I was still heavily drinking and doing drugs. And look at me now, Three years later, I’m all cleaned up. It’s important to never forget the path that led you somewhere. Actually, on November 1st I’ll have been sober for three years.

GRIMM: Congratulations, man. Is that calculated or just pure coincidence?

Pure coincidence. It was the label who decided on the release date for ‘Sermon’. It’s so fucking weird.

GRIMM: There’s a kind of poetic beauty to it, don’t you think? It just adds to the idea of escaping misery at all costs.

So the older songs and the new ones work together well, seeing as the themes are quite dark and personal in nature. The tone is luckily also very consistent. You could say that, despite the time span between some of these tracks, they’re all part of one big puzzle. However it may not be surprising that not everyone will see it that way. Were you ever scared of any redundancy during compiling?

That was actually one my concerns at first. I was afraid I would start repeating myself. You know, fishing at the bottom of the barrel and coming up with my hands empty. But I didn’t. Naturally I wrote lyrics that correspond to other lyrics, or some parts that work together more clearly, like with ‘Burdened/Suffering’ and ‘Overlooked/Disregarded’ which work back to back. But you’re right, all songs work as part of a puzzle, because what I wrote about I have actually felt or experienced.

This interview continues on page 5.