Himsa was an American
heavy metal band from
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
. Formed in 1998, their band name is from the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
word
himsa, which means "harm" or "violence".
The group released four full-length studio albums, two EPs and one DVD before their disbandment in 2008.
History
The band formed in 1998 and released an independent
EP and full-length album in 1999 on
Revelation Records
Revelation Records is an independent record label focusing originally and primarily on hardcore punk. The label is known for releases by bands such as Youth of Today, Warzone, Sick of It All, Quicksand, Side By Side, Chain of Strength, Shelte ...
. Before being signed to
Prosthetic Records
Prosthetic Records is an American record label specializing in heavy metal recordings, founded in Los Angeles, California in 1998 by E.J. Johantgen and Dan Fitzgerald. Prosthetic Records released the first two albums by Lamb of God and Animals ...
, the band released one more EP in 2001, which was also on Revelation.
2003 saw Himsa record and release their album ''
Courting Tragedy and Disaster''.
Following the release of the album the band toured extensively throughout the US and other parts of the world. They spent the latter half of 2005 in
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
, recording their follow-up album, ''
Hail Horror''.
In November 2006, Himsa announced that they have signed with
Century Media Records
Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million.
Background
Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Oli ...
.
On April 23, 2007, Himsa entered the studio to work on their new album, ''
Summon in Thunder'', which was released on September 18, 2007.
This was their only studio album released on Century Media Records. This album added a more
melodic death metal
Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...
sound to the band.
In the summer of 2016 they reunited and played a few practice shows opening for other bands. They played under various names including Crushpile and Metalmucil. Their official reunion show was October 31, 2016, at El Corazon.
They are set to play Northwest Terror Fest May 31-June 2, 2018. The reunion lineup is all of the final lineup except Chad Davis on drums. John Pettibone has stated the band won't do any touring other than playing in the Seattle area.
Touring
In early 2006, Himsa toured with
Darkest Hour,
The Acacia Strain
The Acacia Strain is an American metalcore band originally from Chicopee, Massachusetts. They are currently signed to Rise Records. The band has released ten full-length albums.
History
Forming in 2001, The Acacia Strain was started by h ...
, A Life Once Lost, and
Dead To Fall
Dead to Fall is an American metalcore
Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and ...
. During November 2006, Himsa toured
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
with
Parkway Drive
Parkway Drive is an Australian metalcore band from Byron Bay, New South Wales, formed in 2003. As of 2018, Parkway Drive have released six studio albums, one EP, two DVDs, a split album and one book, titled ''Ten Years of Parkway Drive''. The b ...
and
Cry Murder.
Disbandment
Himsa advertised that their August 16, 2008, at El Corazon in Seattle was to be their last show ever.
On June 20, 2008, bassist Derek Harn issued a statement as follows:
"After 10+ years, four releases, countless tours and almost incomprehensible (yet constant) upheaval, the last three years of the band have been relatively stable. Having sacrificed everything we had in order to ensure the band's survival it's time to let it go. We made a great CD (Summon in Thunder/Century Media); reportedly, our best. We've got a great label. We're getting along, we've toured and we're fine. It's all good. We're leaving it at that."
Vocalist John Pettibone said that he will devote all his time to side bands such as The Vows and has said he is done with touring. Pettibone has since joined Seattle band
Heiress, which has released a self-titled 7-inch and a split 7-inch with
Narrows
A narrows or narrow (used interchangeably but usually in the plural form), is a restricted land or water passage. Most commonly a narrows is a strait, though it can also be a water gap.
A narrows may form where a stream passes through a tilted ...
.
Discography
;Studio albums
*''
Ground Breaking Ceremony'' (1999)
*''
Courting Tragedy and Disaster'' (2003)
*''
Hail Horror'' (2006)
*''
Summon in Thunder'' (2007)
;EPs
*''
Himsa
Himsa was an American heavy metal band from Seattle, Washington. Formed in 1998, their band name is from the Sanskrit word himsa, which means "harm" or "violence".
The group released four full-length studio albums, two EPs and one DVD before ...
'' (1999)
*''
Death Is Infinite'' (2001)
;DVDs
*''
You've Seen Too Much'' (2005)
Personnel
Current lineup
*Derek Harn - Bass
(1998–2008, 2017–present)
*Kirby Charles Johnson - Guitar
(2000–2008, 2017–present)
*John Pettibone - Vocals
(2000, 2000–2008, 2017–present)
*Josh 'Sammi Curr' Freer - Guitar
(2003, 2005–2008, 2017–present)
*Chad Davis - Drums
(2003–2007, 2017–present)
Former members
*Christian Schmitt - Vocals
(1998–1999)
*Brian Johnson - Guitar
(1998–2000, 2000–2002)
*Henry - Guitar
(1998–1999)
*Aaron Edge - Guitar
(1998–1999)
*Mike Green - Drums
(1998–2000)
*EJ Bastien - Guitar
(1999–2000, 2000)
*Chris LaPointe - Vocals
(2000)
*Tim Mullen - Drums
(2000–2003)
*Clay Layton - Guitar, Samples
(2000–2001)
*Matt Wicklund - Guitar
(2003, 2003–2005)
*Joe Frothingham - Drums
(2007–2008)
Timeline
Imagesize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:18
PlotArea = left:115 bottom:80 top:0 right:10
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1998 till:07/01/2019
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1998
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1998
Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom
Colors =
id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals
id:lguitar value:teal legend:Lead_Guitar
id:rguitar value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_Guitar
id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards,_turntables
id:bass value:blue legend:Bass
id:drums value:orange legend:Drums
id:studio value:black legend:Studio_Album
LineData =
layer:back
color:studio
at:10/01/1999
at:06/17/2003
at:02/28/2006
at:09/18/2007
BarData =
bar:CS text:"Christian Schmitt"
bar:JB text:"John Pettibone"
bar:BJ text:"Brian Johnson"
bar:SC text:"Sammi Curr"
bar:MW text:"Matt Wicklund"
bar:AE text:"Aaron Edge"
bar:H text:"Henry"
bar:EJ text:"EJ Bastien"
bar:KJ text:"Kirby Charles Johnson"
bar:CL text:"Chris Layton"
bar:DH text:"Derek Harn"
bar:MG text:"Mike Green"
bar:TM text:"Tim Mullen"
bar:CD text:"Chad Davis"
bar:JF text:"Joe Frothingham"
PlotData=
width:11
bar:CS from:start till:10/01/1999 color:vocals
bar:JB from:04/01/2000 till:09/01/2008 color:vocals
bar:JB from:09/01/2017 till:end color:vocals
bar:BJ from:start till:07/01/2002 color:lguitar
bar:BJ from:10/01/1999 till:04/01/2000 color:vocals width:3
bar:SC from:07/01/2002 till:09/01/2003 color:lguitar
bar:MW from:09/01/2003 till:09/01/2005 color:lguitar
bar:SC from:09/01/2005 till:09/01/2008 color:lguitar
bar:SC from:09/01/2017 till:end color:lguitar
bar:AE from:start till:08/01/1999 color:rguitar
bar:H from:start till:01/01/1999 color:rguitar
bar:EJ from:08/01/1999 till:08/01/2000 color:rguitar
bar:KJ from:06/01/2000 till:09/01/2008 color:rguitar
bar:KJ from:09/01/2017 till:end color:rguitar
bar:DH from:start till:09/01/2008 color:bass
bar:DH from:09/01/2017 till:end color:bass
bar:MG from:start till:12/01/2000 color:drums
bar:TM from:12/01/2000 till:09/01/2003 color:drums
bar:CD from:09/01/2003 till:11/01/2007 color:drums
bar:JF from:11/01/2007 till:09/01/2008 color:drums
bar:CD from:09/01/2017 till:end color:drums
bar:CL from:08/01/2000 till:09/01/2001 color:keys
References
{{Authority control
Metalcore musical groups from Washington (state)
American melodic death metal musical groups
American deathcore musical groups
Musical groups from Seattle
Musical groups established in 1998
Musical groups disestablished in 2008
Musical groups reestablished in 2017