ALBUM REVIEW: Left – Helmet
With their debut full-length Strap It On (released on underground noise rock powerhouse label Amphetamine Reptile Records) and their major label breakthrough album Meantime, HELMET‘s blend of alternative, noise rock and post-hardcore garnered them a whole host of plaudits and a well-deserved reputation for no-nonsense riffs and grooves. Their next album Betty brought them to a more mainstream audience without toning down their sound as songs like Wilmas Rainbow and Milquetoast became alternative rock and MTV staples and the band drew interest from Hollywood, appearing on The Crow and Jerky Boys soundtracks, in the latter performing BLACK SABBATH‘s Symptom Of The Universe.
With all that focus on the band, they defiantly stuck to their guns, but as with the music industry, things change so rapidly and it proved so with HELMET; despite the fact that the forthcoming wave of successful bands like KORN and DEFTONES owed a lot to HELMET and the path they paved with their collaboration with HOUSE OF PAIN for the storied Judgment Night soundtrack in particular, the band didn’t reach those heights with their next album Aftertaste, even though that is also a great record.
Subsequent efforts like Size Matters, Monochrome and Seeing Eye Dog saw the band continuing to do what they do best and they now return with their first record in seven years in the form of Left. As is typical with HELMET, they’re back and doing what HELMET do and they are still doing it so well. With their line-up stable for over a decade, and their ever-present vocalist/guitarist Page Hamilton sounding as good as ever, the band still have those riffs ever present on Left and the grooves are just as irresistible today as they have been all through the band’s history.
Along with their caustic sound, there is still an air of undeniable melody coursing through their music and this mixture is what makes HELMET such a special band and always has done; their knack for writing catchy songs is still undeniable. The brilliantly catchy groove of Holiday opens this long-awaited album up and from then on in it is vintage HELMET as they demonstrate exactly why they are held in such high regard in alternative metal circles.
The beautiful string-laden Tell Me Again is a high point and presents a different side to HELMET, while tracks like NYC Tough Guy and Bombastic offer a warming familiarity and the whole album gives off a feel of comfort that the band are back.
The album ends on a left-field note with the instrumental jazz piece Resolution but even that is done with that typical HELMET panache and the results are fantastic, with the band rolling back the years when it comes to their music, sounding fresh but nothing other than themselves. Ultimately, Left is the sound of HELMET continuing to make the music they want, on their own terms, and long may that continue.
Rating: 8/10
Left is out now via earMUSIC.
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