Hamferð (FO)

(last.fm) Hamferð is a doom metal band formed in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands in 2008. Their lineup consisted of Jón Hansen, John Egholm, Esmar Joensen, Theodor Kapnas, Tinna Tótudóttir and Remi Johannesen.

Hamferð is a Faroese term for the living images of sailors appearing before their loved ones. Written recordings of these apparitions are a recurrence within the toilsome and sorrowful depths of Faroese history, and this is where Hamferð, the band, draws its inspiration. Echoing through crawling, thunderous marches of blight and wails of melancholic isolation are the greatly unexplored darker recesses within the soul of the island people. Love, loss and solitude compose the core of the bands poetic lyricism, and all is presented through funereal figures, taking the stage with mournful silence.

In the band’s short lifetime Hamferð has achieved a lot. Founded in 2008 for a Global Battle of the Bands event, the band lay dormant for a year before recording their first demo containing two tracks during the fall of 2009, one of which accidentally landed at #1 on the Faroese radio charts for three weeks during the spring of 2010. In February 2010 Hamferð won an annual upcoming band-competition in Tórshavn called Sement, which gave Hamferð a chance to perform at some of the larger events during the festival summer such as G! Festival and Summarfestivalurin. In December 2010, the debut EP “Vilst er síðsta fet” was released and has received great reviews so far.

2011 has been a very active year for Hamferð. In January the band toured The Faroe Islands to promote their debut release, and during the summer Hamferð toured Iceland and The Faroe Islands with Viking-metal band Skálmöld, most notably performing at the cult festival of Eistnaflug and at G! Festival for a second successive time. Hamferð returned to Iceland in October to play Iceland Airwaves, and in November they joined Moonsorrow, Týr and Crimfall on a stretch of the Dead Tyrants Tour through Europe, garnering much praise, despite being the odd one out on the tour. During the European Dead Tyrants tour 2011 with Týr, Moonsorrow and Crimfall Jenus Í Trøðini (Incurse) took the live duties on bass and shortly after replaced Tinna officially. On 24 March 2012, the band won the Faroese edition of Wacken Metal Battle, getting the chance to play at Wacken Open Air 2012. Later in August the band even won this international competition at Wacken Open Air. In December 2012 Hamferð won a Faroese music prize at the annual Planet Awards in the category Band of the Year.

On October 11th, 2013 the band released their first full-length album "Evst" in the Faroe Islands via Tutl Records.