ICS Vortex

Hestnæs stated in a March 2025 interview with Chaoszine that he grew up in Langhus, where he first took up drumming in his school's marching band and that the student directly in front of him in the drumline later became the original drummer for Mayhem. His longest-running band is the doom metal band Lamented Souls, which began in 1991 and for which he plays guitar 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 vocalist after the departure of original vocalist Garm. …