Band: Himsa Album: Summon the Thunder Label: Century Media Rating: 8/10 Website: http://www.himsa.org BUY NOW!

"Summon the Thunder" marks Himsa's first release on Century Media after leaving Prosthetic Records. The Seattle, Washington group's association with Prosthetic and their brand of modern metal led to many tagging them as a metalcore band. Those previous efforts shared a lot in common with the metalcore sound, especially the Gothenburg, Sweden influence, an influence that always seemed largely inspired by The Haunted. "Summon the Thunder" retains many of those defining characteristics - brutish hardcore styled vocals, melodic hooks, and Swedish guitar harmonies - but has taken away any other traces such as boring breakdowns, resulting in a rawer, more aggressive sound. The core of the sound on "Summon the Thunder" consists of thrash and Swedish melodic death. Their fondness for death metal becomes more apparent toward the end of the album with tracks like "Ruin Them" and the title track. These songs show vocalist John Pettibone summoning his vocals from the depths of his bowels for some sick growls and screams. The drumming on the title track reveal drummer Chad Davis at peak performance, playing his fastest and most forceful. The speed and brutality gained through the fusing of death metal definitely raise the album's intensity levels, but the catchy guitar licks and melodious breaks show the band at its best. "Reinventing the Noose" begins with a dark melody that bridges into a raw, hammer-on heavy guitar riff that sounds like a variation of a riff from Morbid Angel's "Fall from Grace." This rhythm transitions into another great melodic break. Their use of guitar harmonies to break down their speed also brings a depressing realization to Pettibone's heavy-duty lyrical concepts. Much of the way this group uses their melodies and twin guitar harmonies recalls the same techniques employed by Kreator. More album highlights include the Arch Enemy-like galloping rhythms of "Big Timber" and the Spanish Flamenco acoustic guitar intro to "Skinwalkers." "Summon in Thunder" has many praise-worthy attributes including the rich melodies, engaging guitar work, and angry vocals. It doesn't contain the whiny clean vocals inherit to many of today's metalcore bands. It is not a metalcore album; it isn't a death metal album or a thrash album. "Summon in Thunder" is simply a solid modern metal album. Darren Cowan Back to Reviews