Hamferð stream live video of »Frosthvarv« performed inside the newly unveiled Eysturoy Tunnel in the Faroe Islands

Photo by Beinta á Torkilsheyggi

Hamferð stream Jón Aldará’s and Theodor Kapnas’ live performance of the track »Frosthvarv« inside the newly unveiled Eysturoy Tunnel in the Faroe Islands. »Frosthvarv« comes from their second full-length album, »Támsins likam«, released in January 2018 via Metal Blade Records.

The band comments: “Through the band’s history we’ve always been fascinated by performing in untraditional venues. So when we got the opportunity of actually playing beneath the bottom of the ocean it was obviously something which we had to do. The tunnel and the sculptures by Tróndur Patursson really add to the atmosphere of the music, and we hope that the atmosphere translates through the video so people are able to enjoy it wherever they are.”

“Hamferð” refers to an apparition: the image of a person facing death, appearing before his or her loved ones as an omen.

“Faroese doom metal” is a powerful sound. Exclusive to this self-styled tag is Hamferð. For nearly a decade, the funereally dressed sextet has been casting a unique expression rooted in conceptual tragedy and intense, narrative doom metal.

“Hamferð is heavily inspired by our natural surroundings and our cultural heritage. Those aspects combine into unique feelings and atmospheres which we attempt to describe through our music.” says Theodor Kapnas.

With an ambitious lyrical and conceptual approach, Faroese language, history and folklore are mixed together with grand atmospheres and weather-beaten grimness; a trademark that has earned worldwide attraction. Stages at festivals such as Inferno, Midgardsblot, Tuska, Summer Breeze, Wacken and many more have been turned into funerary ceremonies, and touring with the likes of Amorphis and Moonsorrow has further garnered the band a respected reputation due to strong yet solemn live performances.

Armed with a massive new album, the hour has arrived for Hamferð to close a conceptual trilogy which commenced with the 2010 EP »Vilst er síðsta fet« and continued with the internationally acclaimed 2013 full-length album »Evst«.

»Támsins likam« is the epic conclusion – or perhaps rather beginning – of this story.

“This album marks the beginning of the end. It’s the third and final part of our reverse chronological saga, which explores mortality and the perverting nature of loss through the lens of Faroese culture and mythology.” adds Jón Aldará.

Roughly translated as Body of the Mist, »Támsins likam« is an attempt to create the most intriguing, honest and unique Hamferð experience yet. It is nothing less than a pinnacle; a culmination of many years of refining both sound and songwriting, spearheaded by a strong desire to keep progressing and expanding. This has resulted in an album bustling with elements ancient and familiar, violent and strange, earthen and spectral – all the while fiercely seeking to surprise and move the listener.

Once again recorded in Studio Bloch in the Faroe Islands, but this time mixed by the legendary Swedish sound wizard Daniel Bergstrand in his Dugout Productions studio, »Támsins likam« exhibits a rawer and more mature version of the known Hamferð sound. The somewhat harsh and bare soundscape deliberately contrasts with the refined compositions, while at the same aligning with the increasingly honest and violent lyrical content.

Hamferð is:
Jón Aldará – Vocals
Theodor Kapnas – Guitar
John Áki Egholm – Guitar
Ísak Petersen – Bass
Remi Kofoed Johannesen – Drums
Esmar Joensen – Keyboards

Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well