Gunnar Theodór Eggertsson
Author & animal studies academic
Malneirophrenia was originally called Medectophobia and held their first garage rehearsal in November 1999. The band played two concerts, recorded several songs, and made one music video, before calling it quits around the time the band members graduated from high school.
Medectophobia was a much bigger band, with electric guitars and drums and a more traditional instrumentation, firmly rooted in metal and rock, as you can hear on old recordings.
In 2001, the band recorded "Music from an imaginary horror film" and made the short film embedded here to the side.
Malneirophrenia rose from the ashes of Medectophobia and three members continued to play together: Gunnar Theodór on piano, Hallur Örn on electric bass and Hallgrímur Jónas on cello. The old songs were re-arranged in accordance with the new instrumentation and the band transformed into a neo-classical trio with heavy metal influences.
Since then Malneirophrenia has played chamber punk.
According to psychology books, the band name describes the uneasy feeling that accompanies the transitional state between nightmare and reality. That feeling has been used as a guide in the band's artistic creation; the compositions can be ill-defined and stuck between two worlds, nightmare and waking, heavy metal and classical.
In 2011, the Malneirophrenia released their debut album, M, which can be listened to and purchased via Bandcamp, as well as being up on Spotify for streaming.
Reviewing the album, Morgunblaðið said that "Alfred Hitchcock would have been impressed", Reykjavík Grapevine compared the songs to "cacophonous tearing noises akin to a pack of wolves with chainsaws" and Iceland Review said the music was "full of manic melancholia".
Malneirophrenia has always drawn inspiration from film music and held many film concerts through the years. On the band's Vimeo site there are scenes from silent films paired with works from the album M.
This example comes from Tod Browning's The Unknown (1927). Malneirophrenia performed music to that masterpiece at a film concert at the International Film Festival in Reykjavík in the fall of 2009.
Malneirophrenia rarely plays live but is still digesting some unreleased music. You can follow more news on the band's social media.
In 2014, Malneirophrenia released remixes of M by Futuregrapher, Lord Pusswhip, Buss 4 Trikk and Sigtrygg Berg Sigmarsson, under the title M-Theory #1 and #2:
Long live chamber punk!