There are only a handful of bands in the Faroe Islands. One of those bands Hamferð, a doom metal band, stylistically similar to Swallow the Sun. This Saturday evening was the first stop on a European tour to support their newly released album Evst. They didn’t bring any support acts, so this show was put together by Akelei, who’d also open the night. Unfortunately this gig was announced only last week, so the turnout was quite minimal.

So Akelei started their set a bit later than planned in a nearly empty theatre with seats and all. So quite a relaxed way to watch this band. It was their first gig I think in this new line-up. I never really got into this band, mostly due to the tedious vocals and Dutch lyrics. But the newer songs sound nevertheless  more interesting than the earlier material, so maybe they can become better over time. A decent gig with some obvious mistakes here and there.

After a short break, it was time for Hamferð. They all dressed in black suits (except the drummer). They started with a song off their debut EP, called Vrái. As can be spotted from the song titles they – like Akelei – sing in their mother tongue, which is Faroese of course. After which they played the entire new album Evst, and in order. The music they play is quite progressive and complex and despite the slow tempo it never gets boring. The drums are particularly interesting with many small fills and variations, followed by a very solid bass line. The vocalist did a great job as well, varying between his grunted style and clean, nearly operatic vocals. They ended the gig with another EP track called Harra Guð, títt dýra navn og æra. Too bad only a few people showed up, quite an excellent gig.