Hatari’s Háskar Beckons In Easter Doomsday

Synth-punk trio Hatari, via their weird-ass holding company Svikamylla ehf., threw a memorable Doomsday-themed party at Iðnó during the Easter holiday.

Running from 3pm-3am, with a cover charge of 3333 ISK, it was a buzzing event. As well as concerts in the main hall, every nook of the labyrinthine Iðnó was filled with art shows, small stages, strobe-lit DJ sets, a tattoo parlour, and performance artists roaming through the crowd.

Everywhere your eyes could rest, there were banners and screens bearing the buzzsaw/world-on-fire logo of Svikamylla ehf., making it feel like something between a concert, a corporate event, and a political rally with unclear and potentially dubious intent.

The production values were high, especially for a party with such an overtly DIY/underground style. Screens flickering with digital distortion announced the next act the second each performance ended, and the sound quality, staging, and visual presentation were imaginative throughout.

Highlights included the powerfully bassy and emotive electronica of IDK IDA, goth-horror-sludge-surf trio Godchilla, horror-rap collective CYBER, catchy as fuck gloom-synth-pop artist Rex Pistols and, of course, Hatari.

The de facto headliners performed at full strength, with guest performances and poetry interludes mixed into their stage show. Hatari’s bizarre mixture of authoritarian ranting, BDSM outfits and pounding and catchy 4×4 synth melodies remains an utterly compelling spectacle.

Háskar brought together several disparate streams of experimental and counter-cultural art and music, and weaved them into a tangible whole. It felt, in some ways, like a scene that’s been simmering under the surface announcing itself in one event. Doomsday notwithstanding, hopefully it’s not the last.