Vofa - Vofa

By Master of Muppets. So much doom, so little time; such is the perpetual plight of those of us seeking fulfillment among metal's lower octane offerings. Given the myriad subgenres ascribing to some doomy teaching or other, not to mention the signature slow-burn inherent to all things doom

By Master of Muppets.

Artwork by Nona Limmen.

So much doom, so little time; such is the perpetual plight of those of us seeking fulfillment among metal's lower octane offerings. Given the myriad subgenres ascribing to some doomy teaching or other, not to mention the signature slow-burn inherent to all things doom, it's practically impossible to find any one act capable of meeting all of your plodding needs with but a single album… or is it? Meet Vofa, an alarmingly adept assembly of anonymous artists from Iceland who just might have crafted the doom album to end all doom albums with their incredible self-titled debut.

Vofa brings a lot to the table, immediately catching listeners by the ear with some truly impressive harsh vocals. Subterranean growls à la Slow haunt the air, with masterful reverb application augmenting the sound into something gargantuan and terrifying; the roars on Vofa recall a freezing wind howling through the Ninth Circle of Hell, narrating the albums story with a voice that is otherworldly and captivating.

Decidedly less straightforward - but no less enchanting or otherwise expertly executed - are the instrumental aspects of Vofa. Things begin with an eerie bit of atmospheric doom ambience, and from there things slither through the realms of crushing death-doom, riffy stoner doom and lurching funeral doom - and that's just the first track! Over the course of 3 tracks and 37 minutes, Vofa manage to drag the listener across the entire spectrum of doom, somehow blending all these different shades of grey into something vibrant and utterly spellbinding.

Make no mistake, none of the ambitious amalgamation found on Vofa comes at the cost of compositional cohesion. When "II" meanders from stoner riffage into cloying funeral doom atmospherics, the transformation is made to feel completely natural and organic, thanks mostly to the expert timing sensibilities of Vofa's drummer. If the walls of sound painted by the guitars and monstrous vocals constitute the scenery of Vofa, the percussion is the path that guides listeners to these varied destinations, and frankly there could be no better trail guide than Vofa's nameless skinsman.

Vofa have surprised and impressed the Hell out of me with this debut; you'd be hard pressed to find a more diverse doom offering from anyone, and there isn't a single second of this album that doesn't keep me completely mesmerized. Vofa is a pilgrimage to all corners of the doomiverse, a portent of promise and a challenge to their peers. This is a band that doesn't just threaten greatness, they have already brought it and now stand poised not to level the playing field but to obliterate it entirely. As of right now, there is no other doom act that I hold more hope for than Vofa, and I eagerly await whatever multifaceted horrors are yet to come.