Simen Hestnæs Quotes

Norway, Musician
March 4, 1974

Simen Hestnæs, better known by his stage name I.C.S. Vortex or simply Vortex, is a Norwegian musician. He is the vocalist of the similarly named band ICS Vortex, the avant-garde metal band Arcturus, and the doom metal band Lamented Souls. He is also the vocalist and bass guitarist to the progressive black metal band Borknagar, and the former bass guitarist and backing vocalist for the Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir.

Also known as Vocalist, Bassist

Dimmu Borgir is always proud to advertise its member shifts. It’s a Norwegian thing. It’s a small community and good musicians are hard to find. For Dimmu, it’s a curse. I think there’s been 15 people in and out of the band. That’s the thing, I think. Dimmu Borgir is stronger and moving in the right direction with every new member.

Simen Hestnæs Borknagar
You can be spontaneous in another way because you don’t have the time pressures. If you have a lot of time, you can fool around of stuff. If we have time pressures, it’s like back-to-back work. When you have more time, you can experiment a little bit more. That’s a very good thing.

Simen Hestnæs Borknagar
- Time
- Experiment

We’ve always been into bands like KISS, Wasp, and Twisted Sister. Shit like that. I actually need the corpsepaint when I’m on stage. It’s so much easier to perform, to get into the role and into the music wholeheartedly. When you have all the effects, it’s easier.

Simen Hestnæs Borknagar
- Music
- Effects
It’s more analog. Well, analog in the sense that it’s more organic. There’s not all these automatic faders and shit like that. You can’t control the sound like you’re able to do in Fredman.

Simen Hestnæs Borknagar
- Sound
- Analog
Spiritual Black Dimensions was recorded over a period of two months, actually. We shortened it down a bit.

Simen Hestnæs Borknagar
- Recorded