Himsa

During the 1990s, Seattle earned its strongest association with grunge, yet several rock bands from the city developed outside that orbit entirely. One such group, Himsa, steered clear of the sonic traits associated with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, and Foo Fighters. Emerging toward the end of the decade, the outfit established itself as an unrelenting metalcore unit defined by its aggressive, abrasive delivery. Its name functions as a deliberate inversion of the Sanskrit term “ahimsa,” which denotes peace and nonviolence. Scholars have repeatedly observed that Mahatma Gandhi, the Hindu civil-rights leader, embraced ahimsa wholeheartedly; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who regarded Gandhi as a personal hero and absorbed Hindu principles despite his own Protestant ministry, did likewise. Members of the Hare Krishna movement have likewise maintained that their advocacy of vegetarianism stems from the conviction that slaughtering animals for consumption violates the ahimsa ethic.

By omitting the initial “a,” Himsa signals that its music embodies the antithesis of serenity. The Pacific Northwest musicians do not endorse or incite actual violence; they simply assert that their sonic approach is violent, a claim borne out by the results. Although metalcore supplies the group’s core identity, Himsa integrates influences from multiple strands of metal and punk, weaving in components of thrash metal, power metal, death metal/black metal, grindcore, and hardcore—the last of which metalcore itself extends to greater extremes. Admirers routinely cite an extensive roster of reference points, spanning Slayer, Obituary, Megadeth, and Sepultura through the Cro-Mags to power-metal stalwarts Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Traces of Maiden and Priest surface occasionally in Himsa’s guitar work, yet those British ensembles favor greater melodicism and complexity; likewise, although Slayer’s ferocious thrash/death-metal attack leaves a clear imprint on Himsa’s instrumentation, the latter features the guttural, screaming, throat-shredding, demonic-style vocals absent from Slayer’s recordings.

Himsa originated in 1998 when drummer Mike Green, bassist Derek Harn, and guitarist Brian Johnson departed the band Trial to launch a new project alongside guitarist Aaron Edge. After composing and rehearsing material, the quartet recruited original lead vocalist Christian Schmitt, who had relocated to Seattle from Philadelphia. In 1999 the group issued its debut full-length album, Ground Breaking Ceremony, on the Revelation label. Two years later it followed with the EP Death Is Infinite, also on Revelation. Numerous personnel shifts occurred during this period; by the time Courting Tragedy and Disaster appeared in 2003, Schmitt, Green, Edge, and Brian Johnson had all exited, leaving Derek Harn as the sole remaining founding member. The revised lineup featured John Pettibone on lead vocals, Kirby Charles Johnson on guitar, Sammi Curr on guitar and keyboards, and Tim Mullen on drums. Brian Johnson subsequently formed the metalcore act Hell Promise, while Prosthetic Records, an independent Los Angeles-based imprint, released Courting Tragedy and Disaster.