Hamferð is a Faroese

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band from

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; lit. " Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...

, Faroe Islands, which formed in 2008.

Biography

John Egholm (guitar) founded the band in 2008; he called Remi Johannesen (drums) and they started jamming. The first show was in a band competition called ''GBOB'' (Global Battle Of The Bands) and Hamferð actually reached the national final of the competition. Meanwhile, Theodor Kapnas (guitar), who was studying audio engineering in Sweden, joined the band and most of the writing happened online. At that time Hamferð were joined by current keyboard member Esmar Joensen to complete the lineup. During fall of 2009 Hamferð recorded their first demo, containing the tracks "Opið Hav" and "Ódn" and, in January 2010, joined another band competition in the Faroe Islands called ''Sement''. Theodor, Tinna, and Jón were all abroad. Consequently, Jón handled the vocals and two stand-in members were chosen: Harald í Kálvalíð (guitar) and Jenus í Trøðini (bass). During summer 2010 Hamferð appeared on several well-known festivals in the Faroe Islands, including Summarfestivalurin and the

G! Festival The G! Festival (commonly known as G!, in Faroese also called G! Festivalur or G! Festivalurin) is a Faroese musical festival, held annually at the seaside village Gøta on Eysturoy in mid or late July, but always before the Ólavsøka. It is one ...

. Shortly after their concerts on both festivals

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication '' Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a on ...

critiqued their performances and handed them an impressive 4 out of 5 stars. After parting ways with Tinna Tótudóttir (replaced by Jenus í Trøðini) in November/December 2011, Hamferð supported the Dead Tyrants European Tour, including Finnish pagan metal band

Moonsorrow Moonsorrow is a Finnish pagan metal band formed in Helsinki in 1995. Musically, the band incorporates elements of black metal and folk metal in their sound. The band call their sound "epic heathen metal" and try to distance themselves from th ...

and Faroese folk metal band

Týr (; Old Norse: , ) is a god in Germanic mythology, a valorous and powerful member of the and patron of warriors and mythological heroes. In Norse mythology, which provides most of the surviving narratives about gods among the Germanic people ...

. In December 2011, Jón Aldará stated that the band was concentrating on writing new music for its first full-length album. The album, ''Evst'', was eventaually released in 2013. On 24 March 2012, the band won the Faroese edition of Wacken Metal Battle, getting the chance to play at

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and subgenres of hard rock and metal are ...

2012. On 3 August 2012, the band won even this competition, getting also a worldwide record deal with the German label

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label move ...

. In December 2012 Hamferð won a Faroese music prize at the annual Planet Awards in the category ''Band of the Year''. Two years earlier Hamferð won a Planet Award in the category ''Best new band of the year'' Hamferðs' main influence is said to be the Faroe Islands themselves, "where the sea and the long cold winter play the major role as main contributors." In early January 2014, lead singer Jón Aldará also joined the Finnish band Barren Earth - replacing former vocalist and founder Mikko Kotamäki, who had parted ways with the band "due to conflicting schedules."

Members

Current members

*Jón Aldará -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

(2008–present) *Eyðun í Geil Hvannastein -

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

(2020–present) *Theodor Kapnas –

(2009–present) *Esmar Joensen – keyboards (2009–present) *Ísak Petersen - bass (2014–present) *Remi Kofoed Johannesen - drums (2008–present)

Former members

*Tinna Tótudóttir - bass (2008–2011) *Jenus Í Trøðini - bass (2011–2014) *John Áki Egholm –

(2008–2020)

Discography

*'' Vilst er síðsta fet'' (2010) *'' Evst'' (2013) *'' Támsins likam'' (2018)

References

External links

Hamferð on MyspaceHamferð official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamferd Faroese musical groups Doom metal musical groups Wacken Metal Battle winners