Vilst er síðsta fet

Hamferð. A word quite unique to the Faroe Islands. The word literally means "skin-journey", and the story behind it is that in the old days, when a sailor was going to die, or was already dead, at sea, his apparition would appear in front of his family at home. A kind of farewell, you could say. Hamferð is a word connected with depression and sadness, but is a great name for this band, because the music is indeed dark and melancholic. I mean, just look at the album cover! Not only that, but the lyrics are all in Faroese, too, to make this EP, called 'Vilst er síðsta fet' (Lost is the last/final step), even more unique.

Hamferð's unique funeral doom sound is inspired by their homeland the Faroe Islands, its mysterious folklore and tales, its grey, drab climate and isolation. 'Vilst er síðsta fet' opens with the band's rendition of an old Psalm "Harra guð, títt dýra navn og æra" to great effect. It's not unique, as it's been done before; even on the Faroes, but it's still pretty cool.

Hamferð blend the dark, depressing epicness of funeral doom metal with progressive/death metal elements (the vocals and the somewhat sophisticated style and song-structures). Their style is comparable to other bands of the genre; especially a band like Ahab, because of the slow, heavy, thunderous riffs, clear, pounding drums and spooky keyboard. The music isn't overly complicated and super technical. Instead, the band uses the simplicity and repetitiveness to invoke a very realistic atmosphere; almost as if you're part of the old tales Jón Aldará sings of. The enthralling, dark atmosphere is as intriguing and captivating as the one in black metal bands such as Burzum and Emperor. There is also a combination of death metal growls and grunts and clean singing with an operatic quality to them. Another aspect that ties the knots between these bands are the concepts of old tales that are used to create music.

Listening to 'Vilst er síðsta fet' is almost like having an out-of-body experience. The atmosphere is a constant feeling of dread and it indeed makes the band name Hamferð even more relevant, because it feels like you're slowly sailing towards the inevitable meeting with death. There is no happy ending here. Only sadness.

This little EP has just kicked my ass in a major way! From their funeral tuxedos to the gritty, gritty black and white cover art, you probably have a good idea what to expect long before the opening notes of Vilst er Sidsta Fed roll out of your speakers. Hamferd evokes bleak landscapes of black islands, lost seamen, dampness, and all the other misery of living in the Faroe Islands. So, as a doom album, this is spot fucking on.

I definitely find a strong link to My Dying Bride, with the crawling tempos and crushing guitars, but Hamferd uses more deathly vocals than those chaps. Jon Hansen's got a really nice voice, by the way. In fact, it was his vocal melodies that I found floating around in my head after my first listen. His quasi-operatic singing is especially plaintive and mournful, so much so that I almost begrudge the harsh vocals. On this release, however, they are expertly mixed into the music and contribute to the depressive atmosphere.

There's not a whole lot going on riff-wise, but once again, this a doom album. Most of the time, they pound out like hammers pounding nails into coffins; chugging, heavy and morose. Over these sections they sometimes play single note melodies, holding onto the notes like a final, meager hope that is never to materialize. The only variation in this is when a clean section pops up, or they decide to do a bit of chord picking. And the soloing? Well, not really much in that department...very simple, very catchy solos, that seem to be plaintive Celtic melodies reaching across the endless, cold oceans. They have a keyboardist, but Hamferd has clearly done their homework and kept his mits off the Elves and Fairies Effects. No, here the keys pretty much follow the guitar lines, casting ghastly atmospheres. The drums are remarkably active for a doom album, I find, though due to the basic structure of the music, they don't have room for excessive fills.

Vilst er Síðsta Fet is very well produced, on top of it all, a true godsend for this talented young band. It sounds almost like a Hypocrisy album, and in fact, those Swedes do bear a certain resemlence to Hamfred. I was not expecting something this good, especially for a band's first effort. Hamfred's got a mighty big task at hand to follow this up with something better, but I'm quite sure that they will be able to do it.