Who are the Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar 2014 winners?

Earth Divide is straight from the pounding heart of the North Atlantic. 

With rhythmic, progressive energy and uncompromising live performances

Earth Divide is a five piece progressive metal band from the Faroe Islands.

The band originates from the capital of Tórshavn and all the members have various backgrounds in the Faroese music scene. 

The band formed in early 2010 to compete in a local music competion called Sement and received a very positive response which inspired the band to write and play on a broader scale. And over the course of two years continued to play concerts within the Faroe Islands and strived to improve their craft.

Since 2010 the band has undergone some line-up changes, among which John Áki Egholm (from Hamferð) contributed to the band on guitar for a period of time. He was then replaced by Fríði Tanggaard Bjørgvin (from Oniontree) who joined in february of 2012, along with bass player Tinna Tótudóttir (former bassplayer of Hamferð) who then left the band in 2013 and was replaced by former SIC (who won last year's Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar) bass player Gudmar Hansen.

In early 2012 the band decided to take their music in a new direction and Earth Divide of today was born. And in March the same year the band performed at its first international competition, Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar, for the very first time with the new line-up, raving good reviews from both the audience, judges and reviewers, which led to several gigs played during the summer of 2012.

Since then the band has been working on new material and has released a debut EP, which was released in March 2013. The EP is co-produced by Theodor Kapnas from Hamferð and mastered by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Katatonia, Soilwork to name a few).

16th March 2013, Earth Divide made its second appearance on Wacken Metal Battle in Faroe Islands. While having recieved positive feedback from last year’s performance, the band felt obliged to enter the competition one more time, with improvement to their craft, as it is a great oppurtunity to first and foremost play concerts abroad and raise awareness. 

In July 2013 Earth Divide participated in the Ferðin til Heljar tour with Icelandic death metallers Angist. Wherein they played in several different venues in Iceland and Faroe Islands, including Icelandic Eistnaflug festival and Faroese G! festival.

On March 8, Earth Divide took again part in the Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar 2014, winning the competition and getting the chance to play at Wacken Open Air (Germany) next August.

Earth Divide current line up

Jóhan Fríðrikur Sanderson - Vocals

Henning Jensen - Guitar

Fríði Tanggaard Bjørgvin - Guitar

Gudmar Hansen - Bass 

Sigurd Justinussen - Drums

More about Earth Divide
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All the pictures in this article (except the second one) by Eija Mäkivuoti Photography

Live report: Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar 2014

Ultima edizione a chiudere un ciclo, visto la pausa che l’evento si prenderà il prossimo anno, la Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar 2014 si è svolta, come da consuetudine, al vecchio teatro della capitale Tórshavn, il Sjónleikarahúsið. 

Come da consuetudine, infatti, la competizione è stata aperta dal meet&greet tra i rappresentanti dei gruppi, la stampa e la giuria, quest’anno formata da Kári Streymoy, ex batterista dei Týr, dal tedesco Jörg Düsedau, dell’agenzia di promozione Dragon Productions, da Kasper Molin, già responsabile dell’agenzia danese di promozione e organizzazione concerti Livescenen ed organizzatore di lunga data della Wacken Metal Battle danese e da Jan Roger Pettersen, suo omologo norvegese. I giudici, tutti nella scena metal da molti anni e con grande esperienza alle spalle, hanno saputo dare utili consigli alle band in corsa per un posto alle finali di Wacken, ricordando saggiamente soprattutto come quella della Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar non sia altro che un’ottima occasione per divertirsi e fare networking, senza necessariamente lottare con i pugni e con i denti contro le altre band in competizione. 

In serata, nonostante il tempo andasse peggiorando, la gente ha cominciato a riempire il teatro e alle 20 in punto Ragnar Jacobsen, conduttore di una nota trasmissione radiofonica faroese e da sempre presentatore dell’evento, ha finalmente il via ufficiale alla gara…

CETICIDE

Ad aprire le danze sono i Ceticide, gruppo death metal di recentissima fondazione. Ma, in questo caso, la band sa come non prendersi sul serio, visto che la loro musica ruota ironicamente tutta intorno al concept di cetacidio, ovvero quella tanto famosa “sanguinosa mattanza di balene” che i media da sempre attribuiscono alla popolazione di quest’area. Chiunque abbia un po’ di sale in zucca e dieci minuti da spendere per una ricerca intelligente al riguardo, sa che la realtà è un’altra ed e proprio a queste persone che si rivolgono i Ceticide, fin dall’ironica intro d’apertura, divisa tra versi di balene e svolte più brutali, come la citazione “Io sono il diavolo… e sono qui per fare il lavoro del diavolo” estrapolata da La casa del diavolo di Rob Zombie. Se dal punto di vista dei contenuti, tutti i testi ruotano intorno alla tematica marina (anche se mancano riferimenti grafici sul palco, illuminazione color sangue a parte), dal punto di vista strumentale il combo convince appieno i presenti, con un death dai tratti brutal azzeccato e pungente, con qualche passaggio più vicino ai Lamb of God. Non c’è da stupirsi visto che, dietro ai curiosi nickname si celano quattro musicisti d’esperienza nella scena metal faroese. Unica pecca, la freddezza con il pubblico, visto che i venti minuti di concerto sono stati nella quasi totalità occupati dalla musica. Ma, d’altronde, questo è stato per i Ceticide il primo concerto in assoluto, quindi molto ci si può ancora aspettare. Con un EP in uscita a breve, rimangono una band da non sottovalutare.

SETLIST CETICIDE

1. Rite of Passage
2. Dead Shores
3. Dying Whales
4. Ocean Graveyard
5. The Endling

REDUCED TO ASH

Tempo 15 minuti per il cambio set e ritroviamo nuovamente Eyðun Hvannastein sul palco, questa volta a capitanare i Reduced to Ash. Band già presente nella passata edizione della competizione -all’epoca esordiente-, dopo la pubblicazione di un interessante EP verso la fine dello scorso anno, si ripresenta on stage mantenendo quasi inalterato il proprio buon livello musicale: le cinque tracce proposte ruotano infatti intorno ad un lineare stile death metal melodico e sanno coinvolgere il pubblico, pur lungi dal riscrivere o aggiungere qualcosa di determinatamente innovativo alla storia del genere in questione. Pecca, anche quest’anno, rimane la limitata presenza scenica, un peccato visto il tipo di metal proposto da una band come i Reduced to Ash, che ha tuttavia ancora ampie possibilità di migliorarsi.

SETLIST REDUCED TO ASH

1. In The Serpent's Lair
2. Chain The Soul
3. Blindfolded We Are
4. Growth
5. Mind

EARTH DIVIDE

In corsa per un posto alle finali della Battle al Wacken Open Air per il terzo anno consecutivo, si ripresentano sul palco anche nel 2014 gli Earth Divide. Il rodato quintetto, fautore di quella che con una certa facilità si può definire la più trascinante e meglio riuscita performance della serata, dimostra di aver trovato il proprio equilibrio, migliorando decisamente sotto tutti gli aspetti, e di avere raggiunto la quasi completa maturità necessaria per dire la propria anche al di fuori dei meri confini nazionali. Trascinato dall’energetico frontman Jóhan Fríðrikur Sanderson, il gruppo spazia all’interno della propria limitata discografia (chiaramente, trattandosi di una realtà con un solo EP alle spalle), scegliendo tuttavia con grande attenzione i brani, dando vita ad un set ricco di contenuti ben presentati, e riuscendo a portare sul palco tutto il proprio meglio, dalle tracce di djent più classicamente meshugghiano a passaggi più lenti, quasi da ballata. Il pubblico (e, nascosta nel proprio angolo, la giuria) sembra decisamente apprezzare.

SETLIST EARTH DIVIDE

1. Godless
2. Claustrophobia
3. The Seed
4. Primal

ASYLLEX

Un’altra band che aveva già saputo convincere nella scorsa edizione della Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar sono gli Asyllex, band estremamente giovane ma dal grande potenziale, che sta gradualmente sempre più trovando la propria strada. Dopo aver cambiato cantante e aver snellito una line up decisamente troppo numerosa, I quattro di Suðuroy mettono in piedi un set entusiasmante, con un thrash metal di tipo old school ancora un po’ troppo legato ai grandi della Bay Area, ma che comunque dimostra ampi margini di miglioramento. Il nuovo frontman, Hans Hammer, riesce a dare un ottima prova di sé, con vocals alla Kreator e puntuale presenza scenica, che non sfuma nemmeno di fronte ad un problema tecnico al microfono. Una band che non avrà rivoluzionato il thrash metal, ma che ha davvero tutte le carte in regola per poter sempre meglio nel futuro.

SETLIST ASYLLEX

1. Destroyer
2. Fading
3. Diabolic Arrival
4. Can't Trust Anyone
5. Conspiracy

IRON LUNGS

Gli Iron Lungs sono l’altra complete novità della Battle, o almeno in parte. I cinque membri che li compongono infatti, hanno già partecipato alla competizione, sotto i vessilli di altri gruppi, negli scorsi anni, dando vita questa volta ad una nuova realtà che, se pur molto più convincente dei passati tentativi, manca ancora di una certa stabilità di line-up e chiarezza di idee. Già durante il meet&greet, infatti, alla classica domanda sul genere, il rappresentante della band aveva saputo rispondere solo con un vago “Ci ispiriamo agli Hamferð, ma non suoniamo così lentamente, vogliamo creare qualcosa a cui si possa fare headbanging”. Tutto e nulla. Dal vivo, gli Iron Lungs portano sul palco un progressive metal dalle ritmiche medio-lente, incattivite dai vocals di un Fríði Djurhuus che sembra essersi migliorato rispetto alle performance dell’anno passato. Tuttavia, quello che manca ancora a questa band, che chiaramente è ancora ai primissimi esordi, è la fluidità, visto che, ad un primo ascolto, sussistono ancora parti di brano slegate le une dalle altre, che si fanno dunque più apprezzare nella loro specifica singolarità, che analizzate collettivamente.

SETLIST IRON LUNGS

1. Shatter The Stratosphere
2. A Scream From The Spectral Universe
3. Andromedan
4. Hunt Of The Tetramorph

JÜRGHINN

A concludere la serata, seppur non prendendo parte alla competizione, ci pensano gli Jürghinn, combo hard rock/heavy metal con un album alle spalle, intitolato The Proof Is Evidence. Tuttavia, vista l’occasione speciale, la band decide di cimentarsi in uno show speciale, compost di sole cover di brani celebri dell’area heavy, che infiammano la ricca platea presente. Così, tra un All My Friends Are Dead dei Turbonegro, un Breaking the Law con tanto di ammiccante presenza femminile sul palco ed un energetico Seek and Destroy arricchito da extra backing vocals, gli Jürghinn, capitanati da un abile e affabile John Áki Egholm, fanno trascorrere tre piacevoli e fluenti quarti d’ora (anche se la durata del set era inizialmente prevista di un’ora), che mantengono decisamente in alto l’entusiasmo e l’attenzione dei tanti presenti, ormai solamente in attesa della proclamazione del vincitore di questa competizione.

Quasi alla mezzanotte e mezza, come da copione, si radunano sul palco tutte le band, i giudici e gli organizzatori. Il primo a prendere la parola è Teitur Fossaberg che ringrazia i presenti per la riuscita dell’evento, lasciando poi spazio ai giudici, che si passano tra loro il testimone commentando la competizione e il valore delle band presenti, che ai loro occhi appare mantenersi su un buon livello. Ultimo giudice ad intervenire è, chiaramente, Kári Streymoy, a cui è affidato il compito di annunciare il vincitore. Non a sorpresa, a vincere sono gli Earth Divide che si contenderanno, con i tanti altri vincitori delle Metal Battle di tutto il mondo, la vittoria finale al Wacken Open Air il prossimo agosto. Alla band, organizzatori e tutti coloro che hanno preso parte all’evento, non resta che festeggiare…

Foto nell'articolo a cura di Eija Mäkivuoti Photography

Live report: Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar 2014

Last edition to close a cycle, since the competition will take a break next year, Wacken Metal Battle 2014 Føroyar was held, as usual, in the old theater in the Faroese capital Tórshavn, called Sjónleikarahúsið.

As in the last few years, the competition was opened by the meet&greet between the spokemen of all the bands taking part into the Battle, the press and the jury, composed this year by Kári Streymoy, former drummer of Faroese metal band Týr, Jörg Düsedau, from the German promotion agency Dragon Productions, Kasper Molin, boss of the Danish promoting and booking company Livescenen and longtime organizer of the Wacken Metal Battle Danemark and Jan Roger Pettersen, his Norwegian counterpart. The judges, who have all been working in the metal scene for many years and with great experience in competitions, were able to give many useful advices to the bands running for a place in the final Battle at Wacken Open Air, and wisely reminded that Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar expecially is an excellent opportunity to have fun and improve everyone's network, without necessarily have fight all the time against the others.

In the evening, despite the weather getting worse by the minute, people began nonetheless to fill the theater and at 20 o'clock Ragnar Jacobsen, well-known anchor of a Faroese radio station and, as usual, hosting the event, finally let the madness begin...

CETICIDE

First band up was Ceticide, a recently founded joke death metal band. The band members knew how not to take themselves too seriously and their music ironically focused on the concept of ceticide, since most of the foreign media know nothing about Faroese people, but that they are "bloody whales slaughters". Anyone willing to spend no more than ten minutes of their lives on this issue doing some research on the Internet, knows that the reality is way different from what the media depict it to be, and Ceticide were performing exactly for this kind of audience. The band started its ironic show with a scary intro quoting "I am the devil ... and I'm here to do the devil's work" from the movie Devil's Rejects by Rob Zombie and, although there were no graphic references about the theme, all their joke lyrics made references on this matter. Their death metal, though, was no joke: with an aggressive style, reminding the audience of Lamb of God, Ceticide delivered some good brutal death metal with interesting tracks and a very energic style. The only flaw of their gig, so to speak, has been their frontman excessive coldness with the public, since he barely say a word throughout the whole set, basically leaving all the twenty minutes to music. But, on the other hand, I have to remind this was the first concert ever, for Ceticide...

SETLIST CETICIDE

1. Rite of Passage
2. Dead Shores
3. Dying Whales
4. Ocean Graveyard
5. The Endling

REDUCED TO ASH

After fifteen minutes, singer Eyðun Hvannastein was again on stage, this time leading Reduced to Ash, a band that had already taken part into the last edition of the competition. After releasing an interesting EP towards the end of 2013, Reduced to Ash came back on stage performing a gig quite similar to last year's: all the five track followed in fact a linear melodic death metal style, that gathered all the public's attention, but was far from adding anything new or innovative to their music. Once more, the main flaw this year was again the limited stage presence of all the musicians, who could have delivered way more, given the genre of music brought on stage. Nonetheless, I do believe they will have many opportunities to improve in the future... 

SETLIST REDUCED TO ASH

1. In The Serpent's Lair
2. Chain The Soul
3. Blindfolded We Are
4. Growth
5. Mind

EARTH DIVIDE

Running for a place in the Battle finals at Wacken Open Air for the third consecutive year, Earth Divide performed once more on this very stage in 2014. This five piece quite easily delivered the most compelling and most successful performance of the whole evening, showing that they indeed have found their balance, greatly improving from the past gigs and having almost reached the necessary strenght to compete against other groups even outside the Faroes. Lead by its energetic frontman Jóhan Fríðrikur Sanderson, the band ranged within its limited discography (just one EP has been released), wisely choosing the songs to play, really being able to deliver on stage. All the audience (and, hidden in a corner, the jury) definitely seemed to appreciate...

SETLIST EARTH DIVIDE

1. Godless
2. Claustrophobia
3. The Seed
4. Primal

ASYLLEX

Another band that had already partecipated to the last edition of the Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar was Asyllex, an extremely young band with a great potential, which is gradually growing and finding their own way. After changing their singer, the four musicians coming from the southern island of Suðuroy once more put up an exciting set, exclusively playing old school thrash metal, reminding the audience about the old good days in the Bay Area, but still showing room for improvement. The new frontman, Hans Hammer, with some interesting Kreatorish vocals, managed to lead the band to a successful gig, despite a technical problem with the microphone in the end. A band that may not have revolutionized thrash metal, but that surely has a great future ahead...

SETLIST ASYLLEX

1. Destroyer
2. Fading
3. Diabolic Arrival
4. Can't Trust Anyone
5. Conspiracy

IRON LUNGS

Iron Lungs were the other newbie band taking part into the competition. Or at least, partially. In fact, some of the members of this band had already taken part into Wacken Metal Battle in the last years, but as musicians belonging to other groups. Founded in 2013, Iron Lungs still lacked a certain stability, expecially when it came to their line-up, and seemed not to have their ideas 100% clear. Already during the meet&greet, in fact, while answering to the classic question "what kind of music do you play?" asked by one of the judges, Iron Lungs's spokeman said "We are inspired by Hamferð, but we do not play so slowly [...] we want to create some kind of music you can headbanging to". Basically everything and nothing. 

On stage, Iron Lungs, lead by singer Fridi Djurhuus (who seemed to have improved its performance if compared to the previous year), eventually delivered some nice progressive metal tracks, all having a medium-slow rhythm. However, what was clearly still missing in this band, which of course is just at its very beginning, was the smoothness. In fact, within the tracks, there were several parts that, despite being mostly quite good and interesting, still sounded like they were lacking several crucial connections between each other...

SETLIST IRON LUNGS 

1. Shatter The Stratosphere
2. A Scream From The Spectral Universe
3. Andromedan
4. Hunt Of The Tetramorph

JÜRGHINN

Last to come on stage for this evening, although not taking part in the competition, were Jürghinn, a Faroese hard rock/heavy metal combo. Given the special occasion, the band decided to deliver a special show, consisting completely of well-known heavy metal cover songs (among others, All My Friends Are Dead by Turbonegro, Breaking the Law and a version of Seek and Destroy enriched by unexpected extra backing vocals), that without a doubt made the audience's night. Jürghinn, led by a skilled and affable frontman John Áki Egholm, delivered an extremely energetic set (that though lasted for 45 minutes, instead of the expected hour), that gathered into the theater almost anyone attending the event, keeping their spirits high. 

Almost at half past midnight, as planned, all the musicians gathered on stage, together with the judges and the organizers. First to talk was Teitur Fossaberg, who thanked everyone for attending the Battle and turning it to a successful event. Next in line were the judges, that personally made a speech, commenting the competition, the groups and the value of all the musicians. Last judge to take the floor was of course Kári Streymoy, who was in charge of announcing the winner. Not surprisingly, the winners were Earth Divide, that will take part, along with the many other winners of the Metal Battle around the world, to the finals at the Wacken Open Air this August. For all the bands, organizers and audience, then it was just time to party..

All pictures by Eija Mäkivuoti Photography

Live report: Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar 2013

Leggi la versione italiana su Metallized.it: Day#1 & Day#2

After the great success of the first edition, which led the Faroe Islands to the victory in the international finals of the Wacken Open Air, thank to the great performance of the talented doom metal band Hamferð, the decision to attend the national finals of Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar 2013 was quite natural for me.

Once more, the atmosphere we all felt in Tórshavn, did not evoke the idea of a tough challenge to the last riff, but rather of an informal competition within members of the same family, as the jury (composed by 3 foreign experts, Icelandic Þorsteinn Kolbeinsson, Danish Kasper Molin and Finnish Teemu Suominen, as well as by the well-known Faroese guitarist Terji Skibenæs) and press could already notice during the Meet&Greet on Friday afternoon. 

After a enjoyable trip to the historic town of Kirkjubøur, including the nice visit to the Kirkjubøargarður, organized by the Upp Við Hornunum crew to spoil us foreigners, time had come for the finals to kick off, once more at the Sjónleikarahúsið (Tórshavn’s city theater).

DAY #1: Friday 15th March

THE HAPPENING

First band to perform live was The Happening, solid Rock group who had already taken part in this very same competition in 2012. These four musicians, led by the energetic and unstoppable Anselm Højgaard, played six classic and addictive Rock'N'Roll tracks, with almost no breaks. This group, as a whole, seemed much more mature than a year ago, expecially when it came to involve the audience, which immediately gave full support to the band. A light-hearted and irreverent frontman, who loves to wink to all the women attending, and short but catchy tracks, with their direct and exciting style, seemed to be the right formula to start an evening that already promised to be full of surprises. Definitely a nice confirmation.

Setlist
1. When It's Over
2. Danger Danger
3. Two Girls And A Hoe
4. Living Isn't Easy
5. Heartbreaker
6. She's On The Move

TIDAL CRUSH

Since the announcement of the competition billing, Tidal Crush was probably the wildest card to enter the competition. Tidal Crush is in fact a young combo, with not enough stage experience: a classic band with 'few ideas and also confused'. And their live performance did (unfortunately) not betray the expectations: a chaotic set, during which the dominant idea that the band gave out was that its five members were following different paths at the same time, without playing almost anything in a proper manner. A quite disappointing performance, from a group that hopefully will change and learn a lot in the future.

Setlist

1. Rising Hatred

2. The New Order

3. Place Inside

4. Bruce Lee vs John Wayne

5. Mr. Man

SYNARCHY

Next on stage, Synarchy, a melodic Death Metal band that had already convinced both judges and press during last year's competition. This year, this quintet opted for a different set, which has changed a lot from what they proposed in 2012 (above all, the absence of a live keyboardist and the choice of tracks to play during the set, which this year included also some from their first album, Scars of Gratitude). The result was convincing but, due to some technical problems, during whole performance all the backing vocals disappeared, as well as the clean vocals of frontman Leon Hanson, at least for the first half of Synarchy's act. Truly a pity, as the great skills and talent that this band once again showed on stage have been diminished by some external factors, which have compromised their chances of winning. Still, a band that has not to be underestimated.

Setlist

1. Descending

2. Release The Free

3. Beyond My Wreckage

4. Sært Tú Meg

REDUCED TO ASH

The closing act of the first finals night had been assigned by the organizers to another group of newcomers, Reduced To Ash. Although having only lately become an actively rehearsing combo, this band seemed to already know how to rise from the ranks. Led by Eyðun Hvannastein, this quartet managed to perform a compelling set, made up of quite original Melodic Metal songs with quick and modern rhythmics, which pleasantly surprised more than a metalhead attending the gig. However, concerning the attitude on stage, the band members paid the price for its inexperience, standing too much still during their whole act. But, it's easy to understand that many other underground musicians would sign anything to only have this kind of minor issues during their concerts. A very convincing performance.

Setlist

1. Malice

2. Our Cunning Freedom

3. Restrained

4. Daybreaker

5. Vain

6. Chain the Soul

After a first exciting evening, full of good music, everyone slowly left the Sjónleikarahúsið, looking forward to the second night of finals. Not forgetting a new, peculiar feature of the event, which I don't think could so successfully work in countries like Italy: in fact, most of the people who were working as security staff were young women, easily recognizable by their shirt with the Vakt logo on the back, which effectively helped to maintain everything under control during the whole event. A really good model, which needs to be exported abroad.

DAY #2: Saturday 16th March

After the first, successful night of competition, judges, press and audience came back to Sjónleikarahúsið with a lot of expectation an curiosity about the other Faroese bands which were about to hit the stage. 

Despite the snowy weather, the second final of the Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar took place into a crowded venue, where metalheads coming from all over the islands were ready to let the madness begin. 

Soon after Ragnar Jacobsen, local radio journalist and host of a rock and metal radio show called Ragnarokk on Kringvarp Føroya (the Faroese national radio), once more introduced the audience to the event and announced all the metal bands scheduled to play during the night, most lights in the theater were faded out and everyone made themselves ready for another epic metal night

SIC

First on stage was SIC, one of the most mature and successful bands to take part into these finals. These standard bearers of Faroese of Hardcore/Thrash Metal, one and only group to introduce itself and speak in English during the whole act, gave one of the most exciting performances of the evening. SIC, led by its well-known frontman Mikkjal Hansen, played four tracks taken from their latest album Fighters They Bleed and gave the idea they were playing like there was no tomorrow, despite recent line-up changes. In fact, former members of the band got along very well with the new guitarist and bass player, actually achieving a great show. Hats off.

Setlist

1. Acid

2. Fighters They Bleed

3. Killing Birth

4. Cold and Black

KONQUEROR

Konqueror should also be counted among the groups that had already performed in 2012. However, in this case, last year's show was pretty poor and has been remembered more for the mistakes, than for the music style performed on stage. This year, however, this young Faroese quintet managed to do something more, and do it better, proposing four Death/Thrash Metal tracks, slightly original and technically much more accurate than what the jury had seen one year ago. On the other hand, still disappointing has been the performance of Konqueror's frontman Dávid Reinert Petersen, who tried a professional approach, but gave instead the idea of leaving its fellows members at the mercy of themselves. The fact is that, for this band, much remains to be done.

Setlist

1. TRT (Third Reich Today)

2. Become War

3. Weeping Wizard

4. Beyond The Flames of Hell

EARTH DIVIDE

Afterwards, time had come for Earth Divide, another band among the favorites for the final victory. After having taken part to last year's the Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar, this quintet demonstrated to have reached a very high standard, performing on stage an original and powerful Progressive/Alternative Metalcore, well supported by Johan Fríðrikur Sanderson's brilliant vocals.  This band, which has just released its first EP, showed to have a great know-how on stage, involving from the very beginning the whole audience, which accordingly supported with enthusiasm the probably best performance of the entire Battle. What has most definitely prevented Earth Divide to get its well deserved one-way ticket to Wacken has been the behavior of its bass player, who looked unenthusiastic during the whole act, while just standing in her corner. (By the time I ended writing this report, she already decided to leave the band, Ed.)

Setlist

1. Atlas

2. Into The Maelstrom
3. Claustrophobia
4. Daybreaker

ASYLLEX

Last but not least to perform, was Asyllex, another group of newcomers. Worthy continuation of the Thrash Metal "tradition" coming from Suðuroy, which last year had given excellent proof with Incurse's high-voltage act, these seven Faroese musicians, headed by Ari Farstad, brought the audience right back to the 80's Bay Area, thank to their energetic performing style which, while maintaining a bit of originality, clearly reminded of all-time masters such as Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax. However, to surprise the audience even more than the quality of the tracks themselves, is the ability of this young group to have stage presence and transmit the great vigor of its music to the crowd, despite having to deal with a stage too small for six always moving musicians. A hell of a great performance.

Setlist

1. Living in a world of my own

2. Sodom

3. Scars after war 

4. Hour of justice

At the end of the competition, a long jury meeting took place, almost until midnight, scheduled time for the award ceremony. After Teitur Fossaberg (Upp Við Hornunum) reminded the audience that this year´s event was dedicated to the memory and legacy of Rasmus Rasmussen, the judges took an introductory speech, in which they all gave their positive opinions and precious feedback about the event and the bands which had performed throughout two nights. Soon after, Terji Skibenæs made the final announcement of the winner: unexpectedly for many people, the victory went to SIC, which therefore gained the chance to perform at the international finals of Wacken Metal Battle, which will be held during the WOA 2013 (discover more about the winners).

But, the evening was not over yet...

HELJAREYGA

In fact, although not competing into the Metal Battle finals, Heljareyga, Faroese Progressive Metal band and side project of Heri Joensen, hit the stage with a good act, lasting a bit more than 45 minutes. Heljareyga played their whole debut album of the same name, performing their tracks with a dynamic and compelling style, including interesting backing vocals of both guitarists as well as of the bass player, all sung clean. However, the unpredictable last-minute technical problems forced the band to interrupt their live performance  more than once, causing more disappointment to Heri himself than to the public, which in part left the venue after the announcement of the winners.

Setlist

1. Regnið

2. Heljareyga 

3. Lagnan

4. Feigdin

5. Vetrarbreytin 

Once all the latest tasks in press room were done, everyone happily left the Sjónleikarahúsið, being well aware that this year’s edition of the Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar had been even more successful than the first one, held in March 2012. Accordingly, heartfelt thanks go out to the whole Upp Við Hornunum crew, to Eija Mäkivuoti, to the jury and to all the musician involved into the competition. So, what’s up next?

All the photos in this report by Eija Mäkivuoti

Check her website and Facebook page

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?

Eddie: We 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? 

Eddie: We 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

On Facebook

On Youtube

On Myspace

Photo in this article courtesy of Eija Mäkivuoti

Check her website and Facebook page

Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar 2013: running order ufficiale

Gli organizzatori della Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar 2013 hanno da poco comunicato il running order ufficiale per le due serate in cui si svolgerà la competizione, in programma il prossimo weekend. Ecco i dettagli:

The Faroese organizers of the event have just announced the official running order of the bands performing at this year´s Wacken Metal Battle Faroe Islands, which will take place during this upcoming weekend. Here the detailed information:

Friday 15.03
20.00 Doors open

21.00 - 21.25 The Happening
21.40 - 22.05 Tidal Crush
22.20 - 22.45 Synarchy
23.00 - 23.25 Reduced To Ash

Saturday 16.03
20.00 Doors open

21.00 - 21.25 SIC
21.40 - 22.00 Konqueror
22.20 - 22.45 Earth Divide
23.00 - 23.25 Asyllex

00.00 - Winners announcement
00.20 - 01.00 Heljareyga

Wacken Metal Battle Føroyar 2013: le band in finale

In attesa che la competizione possa finalmente ritornare attiva anche in Italia, ricominciando a dare una concreta possibilità di successo ai nostri gruppi underground, a dar lustro alle proprie migliori band nazionali saranno presto le isole Fær Øer, in cui sta per svolgersi l'edizione 2013 della Wacken Metal Battle.

Infatti, dopo il successo della prima edizione, che l´anno scorso ha visto trionfare gli Hamferð alle finali internazionali al Wacken Open Air, gli organizzatori faroesi della Upp Við Hornunum hanno deciso di raddoppiare l´evento, che vedrà alternarsi sul palco nove gruppi in due serate, il 15 e 16 marzo prossimi. A decretare il vincitore della finale, che si aggiudicherà la possibilità di suonare a Wacken 2013, una giuria formata da giudici faroesi ed internazionali. Le band in competizione quest'anno, tra cui alcune che hanno già partecipato alle finali 2012, sono le seguenti:

The Happening (Rock)

Konqueror (Thrash/Death Metal)

Tidal Crush (Metalcore/Melodic Death Metal)

Asyllex (Melodic Thrash Metal)

Reduced To Ash (Melodic Metal)

Synarchy (Melodic Death Metal)

SIC (Hardcore/Thrash Metal)

Earth Divide (Progessive Metalcore)

Inoltre, al termine della competizione, è stata annunciata una performance live degli Heljareyga, side project progessive metal di Heri Joensen, attuale frontman dei noti Týr.

Qui in seguito la locandina ufficiale dell'evento, realizzata da Eija Mäkivuoti

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On March 15 and 16 the second annual Wacken Metal Battle Faroe Islands will take place at the Sjónleikarhúsið in Tórshavn. 
This year there will be a little change in the event, as the Faroese organizers from Upp Við Hornunum are expanding from one night event, to a two-days competition, featuring 9 bands playing on stage.

These are all the Faroese metal bands scheduled to take part into this year's WMB competition:

The Happening (Rock)

Konqueror (Thrash/Death Metal)

Tidal Crush (Metalcore/Melodic Death Metal)

Asyllex (Melodic Thrash Metal)

Reduced To Ash (Melodic Metal)

Synarchy (Melodic Death Metal)

SIC (Hardcore/Thrash Metal)

Earth Divide (Progessive Metalcore)

Moreover, this year's edition will also include a performance of a well-known band which has been chosen as the headliner of the whole event: Heljareyga. Heri Joensen's (Týr) progressive side project, featuring members from other known faroese acts such as The Happening, Synarchy and The Apocryphal Order, will in fact play live at the end of the competition.

To know more, check the Wacken Metal Battle main page on Facebook or the official flyer (credits: Eija Mäkivuoti). See you there!