Niceland

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Niceland, formerly Iceland, was a heavy metal Icelandic group established in 1983 by Jaz Coleman from Killing Joke and the Icelandic band Þeyr.

1 Origins
2 The establishment of Niceland
3 Recordings
4 External links

[edit] Origins

In 1982 Jaz Coleman, the leading vocalist of Killing Joke, moved to Iceland next to his guitarist Kenneth 'Gordie' Walker in pursue of resurrecting the Icelandic rock scene. There, they contacted some musicians and started playing with Þeyr, which was an accomplished New Wave group not only in Iceland, but in Scandinavia as well.
By 1982 Þeyr was formed by singer Magnús Guðmundsson, guitarists Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson and Þorsteinn Magnússon, bassist Hilmar Örn Agnarsson, and drummer Sigtryggur Baldursson.

However, Þorsteinn Magnússon left the band to start with Stanya, his solo project, and released an album titled Líf. Singer Magnús took his place in the group.

[edit] The establishment of Niceland

In 1983, Þeyr and Jaz Coleman formed a group called Iceland, but later the name was changed to Niceland by guitarist Guðlaugur Óttarsson.
Niceland rehearsed for a few weeks and after creating five songs they went to Hljóðriti studios and recorded only three. The group was dissolved after the recording sessions because Jaz had problems with alcohol and the band decided to write their own songs. Jaz joined guitarist Árni Kristjánsson and drummer Þórarinn Kristjánsson from the band Vonbrigði and played for a while until he reassembled Killing Joke with bassist Birgir Mogensen, and guitarists Guðlaugur and Gordie. They played for about two months, and then Jaz returned to Great Britain to reestablish the original Killing Joke line-up.

Þorsteinn Magnússon returned to Þeyr and toured Scandinavia, but Þeyr broke up in July 1983 and its members followed different paths. The three tracks recorded by Niceland have remained as unpublished material up to present times.

[edit] Recordings

“Catalyst” (04:07)
“Guess Again” (04:53)
“Take What’s Mine” (03:50)

[edit] External links

Niceland
Jaz Coleman - Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson - Magnús Guðmundsson - Hilmar Örn Agnarsson - Sigtryggur Baldursson
Management: Guðni Rúnar Agnarsson
See also
Þeyr - Esquimaux Management (Eskvímó) - Killing Joke