Himsa

Himsa is 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 their disestablishment in 2008.

History

The band formed in 1998 and released an independent EP and full-length album in 1999 on Revelation Records. Before being signed to Prosthetic Records, 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, recording their follow-up album, Hail Horror.

In December 2006, Himsa announced that they have signed with Century Media Records.

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 sound to the band.

Himsa (EP)

Himsa is the first EP by the metal band Himsa. It is more heavily influenced by hard-core punk than their newer material.

Track listing

Anathema

Anathema is a term with several meanings. It derives from Greek ἀνάθεμα, which meant "something dedicated" and, in the Septuagint and New Testament, "something dedicated to evil and thus accursed."

Colloquial usage

In general usage, the word "anathema" means vehement disagreement with or dislike of something.

Examples: "Some people consider this definition anathema;" or "Doing homework after school is a complete anathema to her;" or "That political party would paint as anathema any idea not their own, no matter how good it is."

Religious usage

The Old Testament applied the word to anything set aside for sacrifice, and thus banned from profane use and dedicated to destruction—as, in the case of religious wars, the enemy and their cities and possessions. The New Testament uses the word to mean a curse and forced expulsion of someone from the Christian community.

Judaism

The Greek word ἀνάθεμα (anathema), meaning something offered to a divinity, appeared in the translation of the Jewish Bible known as the Septuagint to render the Hebrew word חרם (herem), and appears in verses such as Leviticus 27:28 to refer to things that are offered to God and so banned for common (non-religious) use. The Hebrew word was also used for what was devoted, by virtue of a simple vow, not to the Lord, but to the priest. In postexilic Judaism, the meaning of the word changed to an expression of God's displeasure with all persons, Jew or pagan, who do not subordinate their personal conduct and tendencies to the discipline of the theocracy, and must be purged from the community—thus making anathema an instrument of synagogal discipline.

Anathema (band)

Anathema are a British rock band from Liverpool. The line-up consists of singers and guitarists Vincent and Daniel Cavanagh, their brother Jamie Cavanagh at bass, siblings John and Lee Douglas, respectively drummer and singer, and keyboardist Daniel Cardoso since November 2012.

The band was founded as Pagan Angel in 1990 by the three Cavanagh brothers, John, and singer Darren White, as a death/doom band. At the time White was the only singer of the band. The following year, Jamie left and was replaced by Duncan Patterson. Under this line-up, Anathema released their first EP, The Crestfallen (1992), and their first album, Serenades (1993). However, White left in 1995; Vincent decided to act as Anathema's vocalist in addition to his guitarist function in the albums The Silent Enigma (1995) and Eternity (1996), which were going into a more gothic metal direction.

In 1997, John left the band, and was replaced by Shaun Steels for the album Alternative 4 (1998). Both Patterson and Steels left the same year, replaced by Dave Pybus and a returning John Douglas, while former My Dying Bride keyboardist and violinist Martin Powell also joined the band (Daniel Cavanagh was also acting as the band's only keyboardist, and shared this position since). The only album released with this line-up was Judgement (1999): the same year Powell switched positions with Cradle of Filth's keyboardist Les Smith who joined Anathema, and Lee Douglas, John's sister, was added to the line-up as a backing and occasional lead vocalist.