Helmet - Aftertaste

Hell ya' Helmet releases a classic 'return to rock' album!

'Aftertaste' appears to be an attempt by Helmet to recapture their earlier raw heavy sound.  It has some excellent songs on here and overall is probably better then 'Betty'.

Sadly most of the critics savaged this album when it came out and I think maybe they were just reacting to market over-saturation as Helmet had released quite a few albums in like 5 -7 years by this time.

Also many critics blame Helmet for the rise of 'nu-metal' which is total non-sense!  Paige Hamilton doesn't even really rap and it seems to me that the only real nu-metal band that Helmet really influenced was Deftones, and they aren't even really all that nu-metalish but more of a Heavy Alt-Rock / Art Rock hybrid even if they do hang out with Korn and what not.

Most of this non-sense came about because Helmet was on that 'Judgement Night' soundtrack, but both Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, and Sonic Youth were on there and they are not blamed for the rise of nu-metal!!!!

Helmet - Betty

This album sounds quite a bit different from Helmets first two outings.

To Hard Harry412 'Betty' sounds like Helmet trying to copy the Melvins!  And that is a good thing!

'I Know' sounds like it could have come off of the Melvins Houdini album.

The drumming on 'Betty' sounds totally Dale Crover-esque to me, all bottom-endy and stuff.  I just like the drum sound on this record too.  It may be one of my favorite 'drum albums', up there with 'Surfer Rosa' with its legendary drum sound.

The rest of the album sounds good too.  Whereas 'Strap It On' and 'Meantime' feature a more direct metal assault, 'Betty' has way more dynamics and slow parts in songs.  Helmet were really trying to grow as song-writers on this one and I think they were successful because this is one heck of a good album.

Helmet - Meantime

This album is all killer/ no filler!

I can't believe it is only like 36 minutes.  It seems to last longer, like 55 minutes of metallic radness!   The tracks flow together real well to, with an obvious uptick being 'Unsung' which is where this album just goes off the hook.  One of the highlights of this album is the twin-guitar attack.  It is just relentless.

The current version I have from Itunes sounds great.  Is it remastered?  Or is this album so great that even today, 20 years later it just sounds awesome.  Seriously I think if you were in an alternate universe where there was no Helmet and then released 'Mean-time' in the alternate 2013 it would still be popular and chart.  Heck it might be even more popular because there are so many of those 'nu-metal' type kids around today.

Helmet - Strap It On

Astounding debut.

When folks think of awesome indie debut records most think of Nirvanas 'Bleach' and maybe Bathorys first album.  I believe this one should rank right up there.  It is totally heavy!

I like Helmets aesthetics too.  They are just dudes in t-shirts and jeans on stage.  Total authenticity from these dudes and yes I saw them live back in the day (co-head-lining with Rollins Band!)

All the songs on here are awesome and 'Murder' is an interesting experiment in noise rock.