ICS Vortex

Simen Hestnæs (born March 4, 1974, in Oslo, Norway), also known as I.C.S. Vortex, or just simply Vortex, was the vocalist of the avant-garde metal band Arcturus, is the current vocalist and bassist to the progressive black metal band Borknagar, and the former bass player and backup singer for the Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir.

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. He actually started out as their drummer, but switched places with Ole Jørgen Moe when they became aware of his singing abilities . His moniker was a bit of a joke to poke fun at one of Garm's aliases, 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 performed the supporting vocals. Songs from that tour were later released on ...Coiled in Obscurity bootleg album.

In 1997, Hestnæs made a guest appearance on the Arcturus album La Masquerade Infernale. He sang on three songs: "Master of Disguise", "The Chaos Path" (in which he 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...
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