26 March 2013

Who are the Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar 2013 winners?

SIC hails from the Faroe Islands and plays brutal in-yer-face thrash metal!

SIC was disfigured and mutated at one of the most isolated places on earth, the Faroe Islands, in 2002, by founder, guitarist and co-manager Eddie Jacobsen. In 2003 he joined forces with frontman Mikkjal G. Hansen. In 2005 the lineup was finally complete and work on the band’s debut album Pandemonium began. The album was released by Faroe Islands-based TUTL Records in February 2007. Pandemonium grabbed the attention of many online communities and word began spreading all over the world almost instantly.

In 2009 the band went on its first full scale tour along with Danish metal act Hatesphere. During that period SIC also opened twice for French metal act Gojira. The second half of the tour saw SIC co-headlining close to 20 shows in the Uk together with various local acts such as Attica Rage, Ten Ton Dozer and others. During the entire tour SIC really developed into a brutal force upon stage and this was recognized by both fans and the media and earned the band a lot of recognition.

In the fall of 2009 SIC began working on its sophomore album Fighters They Bleed. However, in December 2009 drummer Magnus Hansen parted ways with the band due to personal reasons. SIC began looking for a new drummer right away and it did not take long before Dennis Buhl (ex-Hatesphere) agreed to join forces with the band.
In May 2010 all 12 titles for the album were ready and SIC went to Hansen Studios, in Ribe, Denmark to begin recording Fighters They Bleed together with acclaimed producer Jacob Hansen. SIC and Eyðun M. Thomsen also co-produced the album.

Fighters They Bleed was mixed and mastered at Antfarm Studios, in Århus, Denmark, by Tue Madsen and  hit the stores in April 2011. After taking part into the competition in 2012, SIC won Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar 2013, getting the chance to play at Wacken Open Air.

SIC current line-up
Mikkjal G. Hansen - Vocals
Eddie Jacobsen - Guitar
Henning Jensen - Guitar
Ísak Petersen - Bass
Dennis Buhl - Drums


After the Faroese Metal Battle 2013 was over,  I had the chance to do a short interview with Eddie Jacobsen, guitarist and founder of SIC, about their successful result and future plans...

After having joined the Metal Battle competition last year and having gotten positive feedback from the judges, you've decided to take part in the Faroese finals once more, eventually gaining the once-in-a-lifetime chance to play at Wacken next August. How do you feel about this result? Did you expect it?

Eddie: We are extremely happy about the results of course! To be honest, while the judge announced the winner, I was texting, not because I didn't care, but because the other bands were simply amazing so I really didn't expect us to win, I knew all along we had a very good chance and that it would most likely be between SIC, Synarchy and especially Earth Divide, those other 2 bands were simply amazing. This is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and I'll always remember back on that night as something nothing short of EPIC! 

The fact that the the victory has been assigned to a band performing with a new and temporary line-up, means that former and newest SIC members really get along well. How has it been to work together with skilled musicians like Ísak Petersen and Henning Jensen? Why have you chosen them?

EddieWe do get along very well. It was very different of course, because the two members left after 7 years in the band. It seemed very natural to rehearse with them and Ísak has stepped in before, so picking him was just natural. I didn't know Henning that well personally but I knew his style, he was the first person I thought of that could step in for Frans, and I couldn't have been more right about that call, the guy has amazing talent, they both have. It was very important for me and the other guys to choose someone who thought in the same lines as we do and me and Henning are already writing new stuff together! 

Your Metal Battle setlist this year included four tracks from your album Fighters they Bleed, two less than last year's performance, while in 2013 you've focused more on your attitude on stage. In your opinion, is it correct to say that during the last year SIC has matured into a more efficient unit, showing more personality and conviction than the band which performed on stage in 2012? How have you managed to do so? 

EddieWe were actually supposed to perform a new track as well, but our drummer Dennis has a severe infection in his leg making it hard for him to practice at the moment so we decided on saving the new stuff for later. And as you say, instead of taking 1 or 2 more older songs into our set we just decided to stick with the 4 songs and really play like it was our last show ever, and I think it's safe to say that we really delivered on stage: I for one have never head-banged that insanely before... 
I don't really know how we managed that, I guess it came natural, SIC has been around for 10 years, most of us are experienced musicians, and we just wanted that to shine through on stage, and it worked!

Now, which are your plans for the international Wacken Metal Battle finals? For example, are you going to keep this line-up until the summer or try to find other permanent replacements to fill the slots? 

Eddie: We will keep this line-up for Wacken. Ísak has agreed to play live with the band and I'm already writing stuff with Henning, so if he wants a permanent slot in the band, he's more than welcome! For Wacken... we will probably play 2 new songs and 2-3 from our album Fighters They Bleed and we will give it our all! And time will tell if that will be enough again!

More about SIC

Photo in this article courtesy of Eija Mäkivuoti
Check her website and Facebook page

2 comments:

  1. Looking forward to see em at wacken!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have heard some of their songs on youtube they sound great!!

    ReplyDelete