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By JEFF MAKI
Hail Horror is a pounding, unrelenting assault on the eardrums. It doesn't let up for anyone or anything and almost sounds as if Himsa is trying to make a modern day Reign In Blood. At times, they come close to meeting that goal.
The album begins strongly with the echoing Slayer-esque riff of "Anathema" and quickly takes off with double bass at warp speed. The first four tracks -- "Anathema," "Sleezevil," "The Destroyer" and "Pestilence" -- are the strongest material of the release. Each showcases Himsa's talents for songwriting, arrangements, breakdowns and memorable lyrics. The vocals are harsh; my throat hurts just hearing them. Think Trivium's harsh vocals times three. "Pestilence" features a epic-sounding riff which backs the chorus. The song even shows a rare sense of melody, which, for the most the part, is not an option on this album. If you plan to sing along and get Himsa's songs stuck in your head, then you may want to look for something else. The band owes more to hardcore or thrash metal than melodic death, hence their getting lumped into the metalcore genre. Truthfully, that description is not inaccurate.
By track six, "Wolfchild," I started to drift off a bit, as the songs begin to blend together. The material is here, but at times Himsa needed to do a bit more with it. A few mid-paced songs or maybe an instrumental or acoustic piece mixed in somewhere would have worked well to break up the monotony of the album's second half.
Don't get me wrong: Himsa shreds it on Hail Horror. The album is straight-forward, evil and in your face with nothing underlying and no hidden meanings. This is no bullshit, balls-out metalcore. You will not find a clean vocal on the entire release. (At least I don't remember any.) The guitar work is excellent, and there are enough riffs, double bass and sheer outright aggression here to easily piss off your neighbors.
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