Icon in Me’s Frontman on Being the Only Swedish Member of His Band

Icon in Me is a melodic thrash outfit that features three members from Russia, one from Denmark and one from Sweden. The kind of geography breakdown would cripple most bands, but the quintet is firing on all cylinders on 'Head Break Solution,' their new album. The record features guest appearances from the likes of Anders Björler [The Haunted, At the Gates], Glen Drover [Megadeth] and Olof Mörck [Nightrage]. Noisecreep spoke with vocalist Tony Jelencovich about the band and how he feels being its sole Swedish member.

"The band started in Moscow around five or six years ago. They approached me to join the band through my MySpace page. They knew my vocal style from some previous work I did in another band. After I joined Icon In Me, we released our debut album ['Human Museum'] in 2008 and we toured in Russia and also some support shows for Machine Head and Lamb of God," says Jelencovich.

Since he's played there a lot in the last few years, Noisecreep asked Jelencovich about the metal scene in Russia. "I grew up in Sweden in the '80s and it was very different for me than the Russian guys in the group. But in the last few years that I've been going there, I've noticed that the music fans are really up-to-date with everything. Not just music, but fashion too. We played in Siberia and we saw all of these kids with their iPhones and 10" laptops [laughs]. They aren't really lacking in that side of the culture. I think the internet has a lot to do with that, but I they really have love for the music over there. The fans go crazy at the shows since a lot of bands don't go over there a lot."

Watch 'Un-Slaved' from Icon In Me

Noisecreep then asked the frontman if there were any huge cultural differences between him and the Russian members of Icon In Me. "There aren't that many big differences between the other guys and myself. The only problem I had was with some of their eating habits. Well, let me put it this way, they don't eat [laughs]. It's crazy! I'm on a schedule. I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and if I don't get food in my system, I can't function. I'll go out all night with them and I never see the guys eat anything. It's so strange. Other than that, it's like being home with my Swedish friends,' laughs the vocalist.

Icon in Me's 'Head Break Solution' is available now.