ICS Vortex

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Simen Hestnæs (born March 4, 1974, in Oslo, Norway), also known as ICS Vortex, or just simply Vortex, is the vocalist of the avantgarde metal band Arcturus and the bass player and background vocalist for the Norwegian symphonic black metal band, Dimmu Borgir.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Discography 2.1 With Lamented Souls 2.2 With Ved Buens Ende 2.3 With Borknagar 2.4 With Dimmu Borgir 2.5 With Arcturus

[edit] Biography

His longest running band is the doom metal band, Lamented Souls, which began in 1991, and for which he plays guitar and bass and handles the vocal duties. His moniker was a bit of a joke to poke fun at one of Garm's alias', Fiery G. Maelstrom, "Icy S. Vortex", with the first words being opposite elements, the middle initial being the first letters of their common names, and the last word being a powerful circular current of water.

In 1995 he was on tour with the avant-garde metal band Ved Buens Ende and did the supporting vocals. Songs from that tour were later released on ...Coiled in Obscurity bootleg album.

In 1997, Simen made a guest appearance on the Arcturus album, La Masquerade Infernale. He sang on three songs; Master Of Disguise, The Chaos Path (handled all lead vocals, wrote the lyrics, and co-composed this song), and Painting My Horror.

In 1997, the folk/progressive/black metal band, Borknagar was in need of a vocalist after the departure of their vocalist, Garm. Garm introduced the band to Simen, and he became their vocalist from 1997-2000. He took over bass duties as well, recording bass for their fourth full-length, Quintessence, after bassist Kai K. Lie left the band.

In August 2000, Simen left Borknagar to concentrate 100% on Dimmu Borgir (according to an interview, Borknagar was set to tour Europe with Mayhem, along the same time he would be in the studio to record with Dimmu. Borknagar guitarist and front man Oystein G. Brun gave Simen an ultimatum; tour with Borknagar, or quit and deal with Dimmu. He opted for the latter, stating that he enjoys working in the studio more than performing live, as more creativity is abound. Oystein would later state that the decision was "business", and that he "had nothing against Dimmu Borgir", and he wished Simen the best; Simen then stated that had he not gotten the ultimatum, he would still be in Borknagar to this day).

Simen first contributed on the recording of Spiritual Black Dimensions by adding a new vocal element: his own "clean" and "operatic" singing which added a new element to Dimmu Borgir as a band. Simen stepped in as session bassist when Nagash left the band to fully concentrate on The Kovenant; he is today the permanent replacement on bass and full member of Dimmu Borgir.

In 2005, Simen became Arcturus' new singer following the departure of both Garm in 2003, and Spiral Architect's Øyvind Hægeland in 2005. Øyvind departed from the band due to the distance he lived from the other band members and Simen took over as lead vocalist for the band, making it the second band Simen would be successor to Garm as vocalist in. In September 2005, the band released their fourth full-length album, and first full-length without Garm on vocals, Sideshow Symphonies, which was met with high acclaim. In 2005, Simen was voted one of the top ten vocalists in Terrorizer Magazine and Arcturus was voted among the ten best live acts of 2005. Sideshow Symphonies was also ranked among the top ten albums of the year in the magazine.

[edit] Discography

[edit] With Lamented Souls

1. Demo - Self-released (1995)
2. Essence Of Wounds - Duplicate Records (2003)
3. The Origins Of Misery - Duplicate Records (2004)

[edit] With Ved Buens Ende

1. ...Coiled in Obscurity bootleg - Benighted Mirror (2002)

[edit] With Borknagar

1. The Archaic Course - Century Media Records (1998)
2. Quintessence - Century Media Records (2000)

[edit] With Dimmu Borgir

1. Spiritual Black Dimensions - Nuclear Blast Records (1999) (Reissued in 2004)
2. Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia - Nuclear Blast Records (2001)
3. Alive in Torment EP - Nuclear Blast Records (2001)
4. World Misanthropy Live EP - Nuclear Blast Records (2002)
5. World Misanthropy DVD/VHS - Nuclear Blast Records (2002)
6. Death Cult Armaggeddon promo EP - Nuclear Blast Records (2003)
7. Death Cult Armageddon - Nuclear Blast Records (2003)
8. Progenies of the Great Apocalypse DVD - Nuclear Blast Records (2003)
9. Vredesbyrd Single - Nuclear Blast Records (2004)

[edit] With Arcturus

1. La Masquerade Infernale - Misanthropy/Music For Nations (1997)
2. Sideshow Symphonies - Season of Mist (2005)
3. Shipwrecked in Oslo DVD - Season of Mist (2006)