Hatari for Iceland 2019
🇮🇸 Iceland 2019 | “Hatrið mun Sigra” (English: Hatred will Prevail)
Photograph by Íris Dögg Einars
Grand Final | 10th Place | 232 points
Semi Final 1 | 6th Place | 221 points | Qualified
Hatari, a techno-industrial band consisting of Matthías Tryggvi Haraldsson, Einar Hrafn Stefánsson, and Klemens Nikulásson Hannigan, will represent Iceland at Tel Aviv 2019 after winning the superfinal of Söngvakeppnin 2019 with their song “Hatrið mun Sigra“. They are noted primarily for their anti-fascist and anti-capitalist themes in their music, which is further exemplified by their BDSM imagery, though they are not without a sense of humor about themselves. Hatari says they are sponsored by “SodaDream”, an off-brand and critical mockery of the Israeli company SodaStream that has been accused of expanding its factories into Palestinian territory.
“Hatrið mun Sigra” refers to the rise of far-right fascism across Europe and the greater world, with lyrics being skewing to being over-the-top and satirically edgy. Despite the bleak message, and Hatari’s appearance, the band advocates the even if hatred prevails, we should all still love each other to see us through the darkness.
The band was formed between cousins Matthias and Klemens in 2015, and the band will be joined onstage by Sólbjört Sigurðardóttir, Andrean Sigurgeirsson, and Ástrós Guðjónsdóttir. Despite the harshness of their presentation, they are genuinely nice people. The bands main purpose is too dismantle capitalism, which had supposedly led to their brief break up in late 2018 before they were announced to be one of the competing artists at Söngvakeppnin. The band has released one EP, Neysluvara, in 2017 and a stand-alone single, “Spillingardans”.
Hatari qualified to the final and finished in 10th place. During their segment where they were awarded their televoting points, the group unraveled banners with a repeating design of the Palestinian flag with “Palestine” written across in red letters in protest of Israel’s policies toward Palestinians and Palestinian Territories. Due to the ban of the display non-competitive countries’ flags since 2016’s display of Crimean flags, the Icelandic delegation has been referred to the contest’s board, the Reference Group, to be disciplined.
Following their time at Eurovision, Hatari announced a collaboration with queer Palestinian artist Bashar Murad, releasing the single “Klefi / Samed (صامد)”. The band released their debut album, Neyslutrans, in early 2020.
Watch “Hatrið mun Sigra” below, and follow Hatari on Instagram and Facebook. Listen to their their debut EP Neysluvara, debut album Neyslutrans, “Spillingardans”, and “Klefi / Samed (صامد)” on Spotify.