Changer is an

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

band, formed in 1999. The band has released three albums and three EPs.

History

Changer was founded in October 1999 in

Akureyri Akureyri (, locally ) is a town in northern Iceland. It is Iceland's fifth-largest municipality, after Reykjavík, Hafnarfjörður, Reykjanesbær and Kópavogur, and the largest town outside Iceland's more populated southwest corner. Nicknamed ...

, Iceland, by drummer Kristján B. Heiðarsson, as a one-man project. Kristján wrote and recorded the band's first album, '' January 109'', in January 2000. The recordings were handled by his friend Aðalsteinn Már Björnssson, who soon after was killed in a car accident. The album was released on February 29, 2000. In May 2000, Kristján moved to

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

and started assembling a full band. A full line-up was established in late 2000. Changer began playing gigs in Iceland in 2001, and traveled to Akureyri in the spring to record an EP, '' Inconsistency'', which consisted of two new songs along with reworkings of two songs from ''January 109''; it was released in July 2001. Recording for the next album began in late December 2002, but '' Scenes'' was not released until February 13, 2004. In 2005, Changer played overseas for the first time, at Nevelfest in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Shortly after coming home again, major line-up changes took place in the band. Changer started rehearsing and writing new material, and in May 2006 the band toured Belgium, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. A new EP, '' Breed the Lies'', was released on June 1, 2006. Mixed and mastered by Tue Madsen at Antfarm Studios,

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, the EP was placed at number 16-20 on the Icelandic Grapevine as one of the best albums of Iceland for 2006.The-Thirty-Best-Icelandic-Albums-of-2006
Grapevine.is. Retrieved August 13, 2008. Later in 2006, the band toured Iceland in support of

Cannibal Corpse Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida. The band has released fifteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little radi ...

and

Rotting Christ Rotting Christ is a Greek black metal band formed in 1987. They are noted for being one of the first black metal bands within this region, as well as a premier act within the European underground metal scene. They are also responsible for creati ...

Eistnaflug Eistnaflug () is an indoor metal music festival held in Neskaupstaður, Iceland during the second weekend of July. It is a four-day festival with metal, hardcore, punk, rock and indie bands. Name The festival's name means "testicular flight" and ...

. Also during this time, they were featured in a web series which focuses on the Icelandic scene called 'Sleepless in Reykjavik' in which their music video for "Recaptured Sanity" was used in the first episode. In August 2007, Gisli parted ways with the band and looked for a new bassist to replace him. Jón Karl soon joined, though only for a short time and then Atli Jarl Martin joined as permanent bassist. Changer planned to travel abroad to record their next album; however, in November 2007 the band unexpectedly broke up. They planned to release the demos from 2006 and 2007 in the near future. As of 2008, the band has reformed by founder Kristján. In 2010, Changer released their third full-length entitled ''Darkling''. In 2021 the band got back together for a reunion gig and following a studio session and released their first song in 12 years in early 2021. They subsequently released EP called ''Pledge of the Dying'' in 2022.

Band members

* Kristján B. Heiðarsson –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(1999–2007, 2008–present) * Hörður Halldórsson –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

(2000–2005, 2008–present) * Hlynur Örn -

ocal Ocal or OCAL may refer to: * Öcal, Turkish surname * Öçal, Turkish surname * Open Clip Art Library Openclipart, also called Open Clip Art Library, is an online media repository of free-content vector clip art. The project hosts over 160,000 ...

(2022-) * Unnar Sigurðsson – guitar (2006–2007, 2021-) * Magnús Halldór Pálsson - ass guitar(2021-)

Former members

* Valdimar Olsen - guitar (2000) * Snorri Óttarsson – bass guitar (2000–2001) * Jóhann Ingi Sigurðsson – guitar (2000–2007) * Engilbert Hauksson – bass guitar (2001–2005) * Magnús Atli Magnússon –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

(2001–2005) * Fannar Þórsson – guitar (2005–2006) * Gísli Sigmundsson – bass guitar, vocals (2005–2007) * Egill Geirsson – vocals (2005–2007) * Atli Jarl Martin – vocals, bass guitar (2008–2009) * Haraldur Anton Skúlason - vocals (2009–2011) * Rob-D –

(2008–2011) * Arnar M. Ellertsson –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(2009–2011)

Session members

* Magnús Halldór Pálsson - bass guitar (2001) * Hörður Ólafsson – bass guitar, vocals (2005) * Jón Karl Jónsson – bass guitar (2007)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:22 PlotArea = left:120 bottom:240 top:10 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:10/01/1999 till:12/31/2014 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:2000 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:2001 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3 Colors= id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:lguitar value:green legend:Lead_guitar id:rguitar value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums,_percussion id:studio value:black legend:Studio_releases id:other value:gray(0.5) legend:Others_releases LineData= at:02/28/2000 color:black layer:back at:05/01/2001 color:other layer:back at:09/01/2001 color:other layer:back at:10/13/2002 color:other layer:back at:02/13/2004 color:black layer:back at:09/01/2005 color:other layer:back at:06/01/2006 color:black layer:back at:09/10/2010 color:black layer:back BarData= bar:Kristján text:"Kristján B. Heiðarsson" bar:Magnús text:"Magnús A. Magnússon" bar:Egill text:"Egill Geirsson" bar:Haraldur text:"Haraldur A. Skúlason" bar:Jóhann text:"Jóhann I. Sigurðsson" bar:Valdimar text:"Valdimar Olsen" bar:Hörður text:"Hörður Halldórsson" bar:Fannar text:"Fannar Þórsson" bar:Unnar text:"Unnar Sigurðsson" bar:Rob-D text:"Rob-D" bar:Snorri text:"Snorri Óttarsson" bar:Magnús2 text:"Magnús H. Pálsson" bar:Engilbert text:"Engilbert Hauksson" bar:Hörður2 text:"Hörður Ólafsson" bar:Gísli text:"Gísli Sigmundsson" bar:Jón text:"Jón K. Jónsson" bar:Atli text:"Atli J. Martin" bar:Arnar text:"Arnar M. Ellertsson" PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) bar:Magnús from:06/01/2000 till:01/01/2005 color:vocals bar:Hörður2 from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2006 color:bass bar:Hörður2 from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2006 color:vocals width:3 bar:Egill from:01/01/2006 till:01/01/2007 color:vocals bar:Atli from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2009 color:bass bar:Atli from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2009 color:vocals width:3 bar:Haraldur from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2011 color:vocals bar:Jóhann from:06/01/2000 till:01/01/2008 color:lguitar bar:Valdimar from:06/01/2000 till:01/01/2001 color:rguitar bar:Hörður from:01/01/2001 till:01/01/2005 color:rguitar bar:Hörður from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2011 color:lguitar bar:Hörður from:01/01/2011 till:end color:lguitar bar:Hörður from:01/01/2011 till:end color:bass width:3 bar:Fannar from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2007 color:rguitar bar:Unnar from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2008 color:rguitar bar:Rob-D from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2011 color:rguitar bar:Snorri from:06/01/2000 till:01/01/2001 color:bass bar:Magnús2 from:01/01/2001 till:01/01/2002 color:bass bar:Engilbert from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2005 color:bass bar:Gísli from:01/01/2006 till:01/01/2007 color:bass bar:Gísli from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2008 color:vocals bar:Jón from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2008 color:bass bar:Arnar from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2011 color:bass bar:Kristján from:10/01/1999 till:06/01/2000 color:lguitar bar:Kristján from:10/01/1999 till:06/01/2000 color:vocals width:3 bar:Kristján from:06/01/2000 till:01/01/2011 color:drums bar:Kristján from:01/01/2011 till:end color:drums bar:Kristján from:01/01/2011 till:end color:vocals width:3

Discography

Albums

*'' January 109'' (2000) *'' Scenes'' (2004) *'' Darkling'' (2010)

EPs

*'' Inconsistency'' (2001) *'' Breed the Lies'' (2006) *'' Pledge of the Dying'' (2022)

Singles

*''Three to One'' (2021)

References

{{reflist

External links

Changer's official websiteChanger at MySpace
Icelandic death metal musical groups Metalcore musical groups Musical groups established in 1999 Musical quintets Musical groups from Reykjavík 1999 establishments in Iceland