By DAN SOUTHALL
HELMET is a band that has earned a solid reputation and following, blasting speakers apart with their alt-metal and noise rock combo since the early nineties. Despite a break at the end of that decade, they arguably never lost much of their bark thanks to vocalist and main man Page Hamilton.
Opener “Holiday” comes across as a rather juvenile attempt to stay relevant, with the lyrics buried heavily in cool swear words as if written by a 14-year-old. The main issue is that the chorus and music are just so catchy and after more than a few listens the track takes root in the back of the brain.
The good stuff really commences after that shaky juvenile start as “Gun Fluf” and “NYC Tough Guy” give listeners what they’ve come here for, discordant riffs and Hamilton’s ranting lyrics ebbing, flowing and railing against the world around him, sounding as strong as ever.
Helmet push on with their well-worn formula, only taking a few small turns like “Bombastic”, that tries to jam 30 years of their musical output into three minutes with a wobbly degree of success, or the closing jazz noodle “Resolution”. The biggest musical leave of absence is taken by the western flavour of ballad “Tell Me Again” that, despite being the sore thumb on the album, just works.
This is the best album Helmet has assembled in years. If you have never listened to them before, this is a great place to start.
Buy Left on CD or vinyl
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