- From Foehammer’s Facebook page
- Left to right: Joe Cox, Ben Blanton, and Jay Cardinell
How much poorer the nomenclature of metal would be had Tolkien never written! Doom trio Foehammer, from Annandale, Virginia, takes its name from the sword Glamdring, which Gandalf found in the trolls’ cave (along with Sting and Orcrist) toward the beginning of The Hobbit. Elrond of the elves calls the weapon “Foe-hammer that the King of Gondolin once wore” after translating the ancient runes on its hilt.
Foehammer’s “Stormcrow” definitely speaks to the passage of unimaginable ages. “In years ten thousand score / Until the end of days / He serves Ilúvatar,” growls bassist and front man Jay Cardinell, describing Gandalf’s long, lonely work on behalf of Eru Ilúvatar, the supreme being and creator of Tolkien’s universe. It’s more than three minutes into the track before the band modify the syrupy, trudging opening riff, which finally segues into something distinctly different at a bit past four minutes. And the song doesn’t get busy, at least in the “notes per bar” department, until past the six-minute mark. Much like The Lord of the Rings, it’s built for total immersion.
