As the shock of kin, neighbors, present-and-future providers and community collapsing beneath the waves of disaster sets in the scar left isn’t the slow fading touch of grief so much as it is the demoralizing stain of their absence. The ghosts of the past, apparitions and how they linger as heroes and horrors in cultural mindset serves as the main preface for Tórshavn, Faroe Islands-based melodic death/doom metal sextet HAMFERÐ to indirectly examine perspective and how the fortitude of survivorship can still see a miracle in the deep-black and never-ending waves of tragedian erosion offered by life against the odds. ‘Men Guðs Hond Er Sterk‘ presents the melodramatic horror of it all to start, visions of the drowned dead found sloshing at the back of their eyes, but ultimately twists this into a well-rounded, organische and appropriately mournful treatment of melodic doom crafted as their greater funeral-at-sea realizes its most distinct work to date.
Hamferð formed circa 2008 having gathered in a rehearsal room and let their vision for the band arrive naturally, taking a couple of years to conjure their first EP (‘Vilst er Síðsta Fet‘, 2010) an already well-formed melodic death/doom metal style with class production values in hand. Some manner of association with Wacken Open Air in 2012 preceded their impressive follow-up, a debut LP (‘Evst‘, 2013) which’d found the band ripened in skill and concept in monument to tragedian melancholy and a mourning mode of slow (but never excruciatingly so) movement additionally characterized by the innate talent of vocalist Jón Aldará who has always pulled off pure death metal vocals as well as his clean tone which has evolved dramatically with each release from that point; My own discovery of this band was likely the same as that of many others as they’d signed to Metal Blade Records for their second full-length album (‘Támsins Likam‘, 2018) which I’d given a somewhat cursory and scatter-brained review of at the time before it’d landed at #32 on my Top 50 Albums of 2018. That album’s notoriety was widespread and right on cue as Hamferð hit the crucial ten year mark, finding fortitude in shared experience as they crossed the threshold from an already strong personae unto a unique sound which’d done well to stand beyond the funereal melodic death/doom they’d developed up to that point.
Five years ago the best ballpark for describing the realm inhabited by Hamferð was reasonably suggested as akin to two most recent Ahab releases, certain Swallow the Sun records, and/or Mourning Beloveth in terms of still representing death/doom metal but leading with a uniquely operatic style that was potentially more attuned with Scandinavian extreme doom metal and post-metal in its dramatic format. That should at least suggest their focus on depth of experience through composition, arrangements which read as a swim through turbulent waters rather than plainly tuneful work. Dramatic and broad-handed motions suit their performative style and this translates into a rarified live presence complete with formal funeral attire. The general sense is that Hamferð are surely a band of melancholia, of precisely carved style and aesthetic but this tautness of form serves both conceptual and emotionally divulged vision. ‘Men Guðs Hond Er Sterk‘ does not change this core set of traits but it appears to do everything possible to ensure a more organic representation of the work they’ve put into the last five years.
‘Men Guðs Hond Er Sterk‘ is ensured a different result than that of ‘Támsins Likam‘ by way of the vision of guitarist, engineer and producer Theodor Kapnas which includes a live in studio recording achieved without a click track. This doesn’t necessarily reveal egregious bleed, room noise or anything short of a polished and precision recording though it does well to capture the performance of the band which is active, warmed by guitar tones which are not entirely unreal in the usual hi-fi modern metal sense. This result is geared to allow for the heavier side of the band just as well as the melodic dramatism otherwise as the band are most afire on the more angular, dramatic sledge of the two main singles from the album. “Hvölja” in particular builds a noxious spire of death between its carriage of darker post-metal affect and the hardest death/doom metal motions and voice of the lot, reprising the nuclear-level distortion previously presented by opener “Ábær” for a purely distraught and shattered point for the album to crest upon. The opening piece is otherwise one of the more instantly recognizable moments from Hamferð up front and one of the sharper balancing of wrathful death/doom motions and tuneful epic doom metal stride. Though we couldn’t consider these raw underground production values they do lend a realistic feeling which characterizes the band’s sound as their own, recalling the sombre richness and real space of an album like Skepticism‘s ‘Ordeals‘ to some degree.
Though the most turbulent, sharply angled pieces provide dramatic introductory and closing statements per the main sermon realized within the bulk of ‘Men Guðs Hond Er Sterk‘ pieces together its poetic narrative in ~5-6 minute slow-motioned melodic doom chapters which more-or-less explain the phenomenon behind the band’s name. Premonitions which precede a death at sea add a haunting, ghostly touch to imagery here which is suggested in direct reference to a whaling ship capsizing back in 1915, killing fourteen from the Sandvík area, a considerable tragedy and a very visible one right there in the shallow fjord bay. The listening experience does well to start within a storm, the windblown havoc of the opener and “Rikin” giving the listener every implication that this will be a heavier, potentially more densely active experience than the previous album but this is soon balanced by the sombre drifting of “Marrusorg” and “Glæman” both of which are deeply sombre and slow-drawn pieces which better represent the majority tendency for melodic doom rather than death/doom metal focused dramatism on this album. The patient listener will find there is a full-circle, an arc complete somewhere between the opening moments of the album and the second chapter offered by “Í hamferð”, which opts for a sort of post-black metal tapped kick-through rather than offering more chunking death/doom. As always the broader the range explored the more Hamferð‘s talented bunch excel, though there is some lingering unease in the way the first four pieces (Side A, essentially) play out in two separate modes.
If I’ve any gripes with this album they’d largely become attenuated by my appreciation for the render first and narrative second, each enhancing the expression available to Hamferð‘s work. I’d felt the placement of “Fendreygar” was always in the way of my mental beeline toward “Hvölja” as a point of interest, not a huge issue, and though I’d appreciated the context of “Men Guðs hond er sterk” (a recorded testimony a survivor from the ordeal depicted) it quickly became a tax upon the full listen in terms of not knowing the language and it lending a liminal post-metal feeling to the finale. This only lends a slight disservice to the listening experience but upholds the tone with admirable consistency.
Hamferð have long been considered a very slick, buttoned-up band who’ve always hit a high standard and in a sense we’re granted some of the grit and the raw talent of their work per the presentation offered by ‘Men Guðs Hond Er Sterk‘. The result is a more nuanced personae which restates its origins with some curious extremes explored. The harder stuff is moderne, outrageous when pushed to its peaks but always in service to a mood however alien it might seem per the unique diction of the Faroese dialect, the softer edges are certainly in the tradition of crestfallen extreme doom metal but likewise offer their own weaving and soaring movement away from the usual traditions. Though I wouldn’t say all of their work has sounded as if it were created in a vacuum this third major release does feel like it’d been intentionally built to stand on its own legs and represent the band rather than the traditions of melodic death/doom metal. That said, it should (again) appeal to folks deeply attuned to the mood and movement of Scandinavian death/doom and its melodic traditions without offering obviate hooks and clammy sound design. Not only do I appreciate the finely tuned and personalized space created by ‘Men Guðs Hond Er Sterk‘ but there is an earnest mastery to the work found on this album which has been consistently enjoyable, pleasurable yet haunting as an experience achieved within an admirably uncompromised and distinct vision. A high recommendation.
![](https://mystificationzine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/hamferd_score.png?w=1024)
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