ALBUM REVIEW: Keep This Be The Way – Helms Alee
There are few things we should champion more in music than identity and individualism; the idea you could hear a song and name the band instantly, even if there are other influences at play. Seattle’s HELMS ALEE are as good a proof of this as anyone. Admittedly, theirs is a decidedly cult following, but to those in the know the trio’s mixture of sludge, noise, psych, prog, indie, math and more is both unique and unmistakable. They’ve evolved steadily but considerably over the past decade and a half, with their sixth album Keep This Be The Way arriving this Friday as their fourth effort for underground darlings Sargent House. It’s their first self-recorded project, and sees them embrace their creative freedom arguably more than ever before.
Where previous HELMS ALEE records have favoured the relatively straightforward approach of recreating their voluminous live sound, Keep This… leans full tilt into studio experimentation and sonic exploration. The results are perhaps predictably widescreen, but never to the point that the band at their core is lost. For every throbbing synth or electronic buzz, there’s a sludgy riff, an angular lead or just a live-ready rager. It keeps the record cohesive and compelling, both in itself and as part of the band’s wider discography. Any band looking to expand their sound – as most probably should – could learn a lot from an album like this.
As with much of HELMS ALEE’s music, this record is a work of frequent and striking juxtaposition. Despite their dealings in the abrasive and angular tendencies of genres like noise and sludge, the band have always found time for concepts like melody and delicacy too. Keep This… is no exception. Take third track How Party Do You Hard? for example; it’s a short piece, with a constant forwards momentum driven by a steady undercurrent of bass and toms, but the guitars feel wholly unhurried, and the vocals are light and airy, with the overall effect one of both dreaminess and menace at the same time. This is brought into even starker contrast by the nastier and noisier Tripping Up The Stairs which follows, and then again by the glacial post-punk grandeur of Big Louise after that.
In another somewhat common theme for HELMS ALEE, Keep This… is also often intensely hypnotic. Right from the outset, opener and lead single See Sights Smell Smells boasts a real tribal quality, with propulsive percussion, droning bass throbs and sparse, ethereal vocals. It’s a great way to open the record, luring listeners into HELMS ALEE’s mesmeric world with ease. Sixth track Do Not Expose To The Burning Sun is similarly trance-inducing, its moody psychedelia taking its time to build to one of the record’s many moments of cacophony across a near seven-minute runtime. There’s also certainly something of a chant-like tribalism to some of the vocals here too, not least in later tracks like Mouth Thinker and Three Cheeks To The Wind.
Clocking in at just a hair shy of 36 minutes, Keep This Be The Way flies by. It’s a record that sucks you in and holds your attention throughout. It proves that HELMS ALEE are a special band who don’t let their clear and considerable creativity get in the way of giving listeners plenty to grab onto, whether that’s a memorable riff or melody, or one of the album’s more engrossing moments of hypnotism. As an evolution for the band, it makes for a well-balanced triumph; it moves their sound forward while never becoming unrecognisable from their previous work, with results that should entice fans both old and new.
Rating: 8/10
Keep This Be The Way is set for release on April 29th via Sargent House.
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