Hamferð prepare to leave you emotionally wrecked
Men Guðs Hond Er Sterk
METAL BLADE
Faroese artisans plunder the depths of sorrow
north of the UK, the Faroe Islands sit amid icy waters, isolated from the rest of the world. With a population of only 54,000, they could be forgiven for not making a substantial contribution to heavy music, but Hamferð (and others) have repeatedly confounded expectations. Their last album, was a revelation, its(‘But Strong Is The Hand Of God’) digs ever deeper into those harsh realities. It’s inspired by the 1915 whaling disaster that unfolded off the shore of the village of Sandvik, as 14 men lost their lives while in pursuit of their seaborn prey. Chillingly, the locals watched the horror unfold from the shoreline. No wonder this beautifully bleak record is so fucking heavy.
