SEEN AND HEARD (Pt 1): HAMFERÐ, INQUISITION, TOMBSTONED

I ran roughshod through the interhole yesterday and this morning, and it seemed like around every corner was new music worth sharing. Even more good tunes were lurking in the NCS e-mail inbox. So, I’ve divided what I found into two posts, this one being the first.

HAMFERÐ

I first came across Hamferð in August 2012 because they were the first band from the Faroe Islands (population: 49,000) to enter the globe-spanning Wacken Metal Battle competition — and they won the whole thing, earning the right to play at the Wacken festival on August 6 of last year. That remarkable story is what snagged my interest, and listening to their 2010 EP Vilst er Síðsta Fet made me a fan (for more details about their story and a review of that EP, go here).

Hamferð have now finished their debut album Evst, and a couple of hours ago they announced that it will be released on October 11 in The Faroe Islands and November 15 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (it will also be released digitally worldwide on the same day). It will be a concept album and appears to be a continuation of ideas developed on the EP. Once again, the lyrics will be in Faroese (the band’s name is a Faroese term for the apparitions of sailors appearing before their loved ones).

Interestingly, although winning Wacken Metal Battle gave Hamferð the option for a label contract with Nuclear Blast, they turned it down “to be able to continue their work without unwanted influences”.

Today the band also released the album’s title track for streaming. It brings the doom in a slow downpour of heavy riffs and earth-cracking percussion. Cavernous growls drag you deeper in the verses while a high, sky-bound clean voice lights up the chorus. Anguished and majestic, it’s an appealing teaser for Evst. Have a listen below.

https://www.facebook.com/Hamferd

 

 

INQUISITION

It may seem like I’ve written about every little piece of news and new music that has surfaced in the ramp-up to release of Inquisition’s new album, Obscure Verses for the Multiverse. Pretty much, I have, and I still am. For one thing, I now have a hi-res version of the cover art. If you click on the above image, you can see that version. So damned cool.

Season of Mist also gave the public another new track to hear yesterday, via a Stereogum premiere. The song wasn’t made embeddable, so you’ll have to go HERE to listen to it, and you should. It rips. Fittingly, the name is “Infinite Interstellar Genocide”.

The album comes out in NorthAm on October 29 (October 25 everywhere else). Just in case you missed the first track that premiered, it’s below.

https://www.facebook.com/inquisition.official

 

TOMBSTONED

I do make an effort to mix up the musical styles in these round-up posts. It’s a reflection of how continually amazed I am at the vibrant diversity of metal. I think it’s also a reflection of the fact that my own tastes and interests are continually expanding — becoming both more extreme in some directions and less extreme in others.

Take Finland’s Tombstoned for example. A couple of years ago I doubt I would have been interested in an album like their debut, which is self-titled and scheduled for release by Svart Records on November 14. But yesterday I listened to the premiere of a track from the album named “Daze of Disintegration” and I’m eating it up.

I’m such a sucker for a bass solo, which is how the song begins. The doom-rocking fuzz-riffs that follow are damned sweet, too, and a couple of searing psyche solos with dual guitars seal the deal (wah-wah to the max!). Before it’s over, it collapses into a nasty crawl, and the wailing vocals sound like the second coming of Ozzy Osbourne, which is nice since the first one may have overstayed his welcome. Check it out:

https://www.facebook.com/tombstonedhelsinki
https://www.facebook.com/svartrecords