Hafgúa emerge from the dark depths bringing their atmospheric doom metal to light in a 4 song ep stretching nearly 25 minutes.
Hafgúa includes the small Icelandic village of Bakkafjörður in their bio and take their name from the legendary leviathan found in Icelandic sagas and Biblical accounts of Job and Jonah. Legend has it that this particular creature appears as a rock-like island at low tide and devours anything that gets too close, even ships and entire crews. The band formed in 2022 and have released Out of the Depths of Sheol, using a drowning man sinking to the ocean floor as a metaphor for man’s fall from grace and ultimate redemption through Christ. Finding information on the band is a bit of a challenge, but members of the band all have previous bands they have been associated with including: Misha De Haan (Startled by Silence), Thomas (Deckard/ Jedidah /J’accuse!…), Gerben (De Jammermannen / Der Frügtensängers), Frank van der Boom (Killing Goliath / Wolfer), and Carl Staplebroek ( Desillusion / J’accuse!… / Killing Goliath / Wolfer).
Adding “atmospheric” to a band description conjures up being able to convey a sense of time and place through music and sounds and Hafgúa do that very well on this ep. The crashing waters and ominous bass line immediately bring to mind a dark, foreboding seascape and Misha De Haan’s opening spoken narration works very well within this setting. Throughout the rest of the song, the listener can’t escape this imagery and the guttural, growled vocals from Thomas contrasting Misha’s ethereal vocals combined with the slow grinding rhythm and droning guitars combine to make a great doom track describing the beast.
“Never Drowning” opens with a sludgy, grinding heaviness and guttural, growled vocals from Thomas in a song about sin, repentance, and redemption set to the idea of a drowning man being saved by the hand of God. As in the first track “Tidal”, Misha adds her clean, beautiful vocals in response and layered in such a way that brings light over the darkness resulting in a really powerful track.
“Undertow” again uses the combination and contrasting vocals to great effect but also brings in an almost groove rhythm different from the plodding, slow, grinding doom of the previous tracks, which is a welcome change of pace.
“Drifting Further” closes out the ep and brings back the beast, this time describing its defeat as described in the book of Revelation. Slow and grinding guitars and pounding drums define most of the song, with a clean choir male voices closing it out accapella and bringing the ep to good close.
Hafgúa had debuted with an impressive effort, from the musicianship to the storytelling and creating a soundscape that immerses the listener in the experience.
Rating: 8.5/10
Written by John Jackson
Tracklist
- Tidal
- Never Drowning
- Undertow
- Drifting Further
Band Members
Misha De Haan – vocals (Startled by Silence)
Thomas – vocals (Deckard/ Jedidah /J’accuse!…)
Gerben (De Jammermannen / Der Frügtensängers)
Frank van der Boom (Killing Goliath / Wolfer)
Carl Staplebroek ( Desillusion / J’accuse!… / Killing Goliath / Wolfer)
Release Date: December 15, 2023
Record Label: Independent
Social Media: Facebook / Bandcamp
Video (audio) for ‘Never Drowning’
Video (audio) for: Tidal