Vofa

Very little information you will find about the mysterious band Vofa. Even on their official facebook page, they only reveal that they come from Iceland and they are four members. I received their first full length album some time ago, by the label which is responsible for the distribution of the album (Satanath Records), it is called Vofa and it contains three tracks of overall duration of about thirty – eight minutes. So, Vofa was released the 18^th of November of 2019 by the collaboration of two record labels, Funere and Exhumed Records in cd version limited in 500 copies. Not only the band but also this release is covered with a veil of mystery and obscurity, so, the listener will dive into its atmosphere by the moment he crabs his copy and take a look at the cover and at the occult symbols and the ritualistic photos, found inside the booklet.

The first melodies are introducing the listener to Vofa’s darkness, the foggy, ritualistic atmosphere that will be unfold in the rest of the album and will haunt you until the very last second. The album starts by presenting images and feelings of melancholy, abandonment, grey pictures of despair, grey as the artwork. And gradually those feelings fade and the feeling that conquers everything is horror and insecurity until the end of the album. The music can be characterized as Funeral Doom and in some cases Doom Metal, with very dark and horrific atmosphere. The riffing is very heavy and slow, with some very interesting changes during the evolution of the tracks, either regarding the tempo or the melody. The duration of each track is thirteen minutes, something quite usual for this kind of Metal, the structure of the tracks though, is simple and has the appropriate changes in order to avoid become boring or make the listener lose focus as everything depend on the atmosphere.

The instruments are all played flawlessly. The guitars deliver the riffs with precision, as also they are full of feelings and make the atmosphere more intense. The bass has a very important role in the compositions, as it will give the depth and the heaviness needed by the compositions but also there are a few times which will become the main instrument that will change the atmosphere and create the next images that the band wants to present. The drums have very interesting lines with difficult changes and unique style. The vocals are passionate Death Metal vocals with some harsher grows, a very nice performance. There are also one or two parts where along with the main vocals, also some choral vocals make their appearance, which give a more ritualistic character to those moments. The production is clean, warm and heavy, it fits perfectly to the style of the compositions. The mixture is balanced giving the space to all instruments to evolve and to contribute to the compositions. The lyrics sound as they are written in English, but I can’t be sure as they are not contained in the booklet and I don’t know what they are about.

The first release of Vofa is a mentionable effort. It offers a really obscure and horrific journey into dark and grey landscape, filling the listener with ugly, depressing thoughts and feelings. I liked all three songs and it will be better if you listen to the entire album in the order that the band has published the tracks, because this way you will feel and see the vision of the band. I guess that this is not a suitable release for every Black Metal fan, although it has a lot of elements that would be appealing to some of you. I liked the album and I suggest you listen to it.