Himsa

Himsa are already running circles around the metalcore genre after just one album and two EPs. Death Is Infinite is a mere ten minutes, however, and its brevity is one of the reasons it is so powerful: it rushes in, attacks and takes off before you have time to say "woah, I forgot about Undertow." The legendary vocals of John Pettibone are in prime form here, screaming, cracking and death-metalling words of inner torment and cleansing. The players provide a heavy metalcore attack, combining the fast, straight ahead, mid-'90s hardcore sound with a Swedish death metal touch and a hint of mathcore. That describes every other band in this failing genre, true, but Himsa play with an intensity and, most importantly, sincerity that the others lack. The next full-length will be a dangerous one indeed.