Photo by Gaui H Pic
Watch HAMFERÐ’s “Marrusorg” video HERE.
Men Guðs Hond Er Sterk, the new full-length from Faroe Islands-based death/doom collective HAMFERÐ, is out today on Metal Blade Records!
When this magisterial sextet’s third album Támsins likam emerged in 2018, the highly acclaimed and powerfully emotive opus thrust the mourning-suited band onto the world stage. Louder Sound championed, “a stunning triumph,” Heavy Music HQ concurred lauding a, “tour de force for the band,” while Bandcamp Daily observed accurately, “HAMFERÐ presents metal’s obligatory preoccupation with dying in a light we rarely see it, finding melodrama, romance, and — yes — beauty in mortality.”
Six years on, the accumulation of plentiful live experience and interpersonal chemistry has had a profound impact on HAMFERÐ’s extraordinary fourth LP, Men Guðs Hond Er Sterk, feeding into the artisanal sonic vision of guitarist and producer, Theodor Kapnas. Avoiding all the quick-fix trickery of modern recording technology, the band recorded the songs together live in the studio, without a click-track. The result is a resoundingly human album that heaves, swoops, and shifts in elemental style – from passages of glacial post-metallic beauty through sorrowful folky goth cadences, via icy blackened blastbeats to shuddering vistas of extreme doom mastery – with a crackling tight-but-loose interplay recalling the giants of yesteryear.
The narrative concept behind Men Guðs Hond Er Sterk is inspired by the 1915 whaling disaster off the Faroe Island village of Sandvik (home of HAMFERÐ keyboardist Esmar Joensen), when fourteen men died driving whales ashore in the stormy bay. The village population witnessed the tragedy from the seaside. The sad tale has enabled HAMFERÐ to powerfully bring to life the meaning behind their Faroese name, zeroing in on the traumatic emotional force behind this supernatural phenomenon.
In celebration of today’s release, the band has unveiled a video for “Marrusorg.” “‘Marrusorg’ describes a parent’s attempt to create an imaginary world to avoid facing the death of their child. The verses are a dreamlike nursery rhyme where the child is the hero in an underwater kingdom. The choruses represent the unbearable grief that floods over the parent when this fantasy melts away.”
Watch HAMFERÐ’s “Marrusorg” video at THIS LOCATION.
Watch HAMFERÐ’s previously released videos for “Ábær” HERE and “Hvølja” HERE.
Men Guðs Hond Er Sterk is available on CD and digital formats as well as vinyl in the following color variants:
Azure Blue Marbled (US/EU)
180g Black (EU)
Sand Beige Marbled (EU – Ltd. 300)
Crystal Clear Blackdust (EU – Ltd. 200)
Find orders at: metalblade.com/hamferd.
In related HAMFERÐ news, the band will join Sólstafir and Oranssi Pazuzu for a portion of the Nordic Descent Tour this November.
Comments the band, “We are very excited to hit the road with our friends in Sólstafir and the amazing Oranssi Pazuzu. It’s a musically diverse package which we are honored to be a part of, and we can’t wait to perform our new music on stages around Europe. We also can’t wait to finally get to play in the UK, it has been long overdue!”
See all confirmed dates below.
HAMFERÐ w/ Sólstafir, Oranssi Pazuzu:
11/13/2024 Oosterpoort – Groningen, NL
11/14/2024 Doornroosje – Nijmegen, NL
11/15/2024 Muziekgieterij – Maastricht, NL
11/16/2024 Botanique – Brussels, BE
11/17/2024 Forum – Bielefeld, DE
11/19/2024 Splendid – Lille, FR
11/20/2024 Concorde 2 – Brighton, UK
11/21/2024 Club Academy – Manchester, UK
11/22/2024 Opium – Dublin, IR
11/23/2024 Queen Margaret Union – Glasgow, UK
11/24/2024 Electric Brixton – London, UK
“The true depth of this work may not be immediately apparent – but knowing all its facets, you can hardly help but let yourself be absorbed and drawn in by it.” — Metal Hammer Germany
“…heavy riffs meet deep growls and pleading clear vocals as well as melodic sprinkles and a pleasant mixture of anger and melancholy… the album… invites you to let out your frustration about the misery of this world over a cold drink. And that’s exactly what music like this is for…” — Slam Magazine
“HAMFERБs latest offering is a powerful, emotionally charged exploration of tragedy, memory, and the indomitable human spirit. It is an album that stands as a bold statement from a band that continues to push the boundaries of their genre, crafting music that is as deeply felt as it is beautifully rendered.” – Lots Of Musik
“Very few records that exist in this genre are a strong as HAMFERÐ’s music, and Men Guðs Hond Er Sterk simply reinforces HAMFERÐ’s mastery of the style.” — Wonderbox Metal
“The band excels at transmitting vibes of desolation and hopelessness with their music, and with Men Guðs Hond Er Sterk they take things to a whole new level.” — Infernal Masquerade
“…a marriage of music and meaning… I haven’t “felt” another album as deeply this year.” — Metal Temple
“[HAMFERÐ] continues to strike a fine line between entrancing melodies that have a bleaker, melancholic tone alongside more crushing riffs, but this time the formula has been shaken up a bit more and some of these songs are their most destructive to date.” — Metal Trenches
“…an emotional journey: it’s an album to put on for a long drive, and a band for which you’ll just stand there with your eyes closed, getting lost in their musical storytelling, as they play live. It’s also an album that takes several listens to really understand, but as with most good releases that’s time well spent as in the end this album rewards you and I can only describe it as beautiful.” — No Clean Singing
“…an excellent combination of heaviness and beauty, likely the juxtaposition of the forces of nature acting with and against one another, allowing for each element of the band’s sound to stand alone.” – Heavy Music HQ
HAMFERÐ:
Jón Aldará – vocals
Theodor Kapnas – guitars
Eyðun í Geil Hvannastein – guitars
Esmar Joensen – keyboards
Remi Kofoed Johannesen – drums
Jenus í Trøðini – bass
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