Helmet (band)
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Helmet is an American alternative metal band formed in New York City by Page Hamilton (vocals/guitar) with Henry Bogdan (bass), Peter Mengede (guitar) and John Stanier (drums) in 1989.
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Early years
Helmet appeared on the New York underground scene in 1989 and quickly rose into the top ranks. They were spotted by Tom Hazelmeyer and signed to his Amphetamine Reptile Records label, releasing their debut 7 inch single, Born Annoying, later that year. AmRep released their first album, Strap It On, in 1990.
Helmet was acclaimed as a thinking person's heavy metal band. The members' appearance was a shock to many as they were all clean-cut—the antithesis of the heavy metal stereotype. Their music is characterized by repetitive, syncopated, staccato guitar riffs, often in odd time signatures, and almost always in a minor key with drop-D tuning. The guitar sound is heavily distorted and dissonant, with choruses that often involve guitar feedback waves. Page Hamilton has been hailed as one of the more innovative metal guitarists of the 1990s.
Before Hamilton had settled on a name for the group, Peter Mengede's wife suggested naming it after German Chancellor Helmut Kohl as an inside joke. While Hamilton didn't care for the idea, this was the germ of the notion to name the band Helmet. Another name considered was "Cry Ruth".
In the meantime
The group rose to international stardom in 1992 after signing to Interscope Records. With the record industry hot to pick up burgeoning metal acts, Helmet was courted by a number of major labels. It is rumored that the members received in excess of $1 million at signing, along with an unprecedented amount of control over their work. Their first Interscope release, 1992's Meantime, was produced entirely by the band and was certified gold in the US by 1994. The album has sold over 1 million copies worldwide and remains Helmet's top-selling album. The group has been on the cutting edge of metal music, even helping pioneer "rap-metal" when they performed together with House of Pain for the soundtrack of the 1993 movie Judgment Night.
Helmet toured relentlessly and internal tensions rose high at times. By the time 1994's Betty appeared, guitarist Peter Mengede had left and been replaced by Rob Echeverria. After recording and touring in support of Betty, Echeverria left to join Biohazard. Now a three-piece, the band elected to push on and record 1997's Aftertaste without looking for another guitarist. After recording was complete, guitarist Chris Traynor (formerly of Orange 9mm) was recruited for the supporting tour. Unfortunately, the Aftertaste tour in 1997-98 would prove to be the band's last. Amid long-standing private disputes, the members decided very bitterly to call it quits.
Aftermath and reformation
Henry Bogdan has expanded his musical talents and is currently mastering the steel guitar. Page Hamilton relocated from New York City to Los Angeles and was involved in many different projects, from playing guitar for David Bowie to doing sessions for film scores. He periodically returned to New York for his band Gandhi, which is where several of the songs appearing on Size Matters began. John Stanier took a break from drumming for over a year, but returned to play drums for Tomahawk, The Mark of Cain and Battles.
For more on each member's current whereabouts, see his individual article.
After moving to Los Angeles, Hamilton began working with drummer John Tempesta (formerly of Testament and White Zombie) and was searching for a record label and a name for the project. By 2003, he had acquiesced to Jimmy Iovine's urging that he release music through Interscope under the established Helmet moniker, to which Interscope held the rights. Hamilton felt that Helmet's music (if not its personnel) still had life left, and had been eager to revive it. Even though he had always been Helmet's primary songwriter, Hamilton had resisted for some time under the belief that without Stanier and Bogdan it couldn't rightly be called Helmet. Communication between Hamilton, Bogdan, and Stanier had been almost non-existent out of spite for years. Hamilton, fed up with the situation, became convinced that he was justified in moving on and putting out more music as Helmet without them. Chris Traynor, still on good terms with Hamilton, soon came on board to cover bass and guitar parts. With Tempesta on drums and Hamilton covering vocals and guitar, the three recorded Size Matters in early 2004. Frank Bello (of Anthrax) was later recruited to play bass on tour so Traynor could return to guitar.
New developments
Frank Bello left Helmet during the Size Matters tour to reunite with his old band, Anthrax. Jeremy Chatelain filled in for Bello for the duration of the tour, but did not join the band. John Tempesta left in early 2006 to join The Cult. In March of 2006, Helmet performed at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, with Charlie Walker on drums, Chris Traynor on bass, and Anthony Truglio on guitar (former member of Gandhi).
In late 2005, Helmet parted ways with Interscope. On 1 March 2006, it was announced that Helmet had signed with Warcon Enterprises, best known for its association with the Warped Tour and the Taste of Chaos tour. The band is working on a new album to be released in June of 2006. The album will be a return-to-form of sorts, recorded and co-produced by Wharton Tiers, who recorded Helmet's first two albums, Strap It On and Meantime. It is unknown whether the line up featured at the March shows will also be appearing on the album or on the Warped Tour this summer, which Helmet is headlining.
Discography
- Strap It On (AmRep 1990, Interscope 1992)
- Meantime (Interscope 1992)
- Betty (Interscope 1994)
- Aftertaste (Interscope 1997)
- Unsung: The Best of Helmet (1991-1997) (Interscope 2004)
- Size Matters (Interscope 2004)
Helmet also has numerous singles and EP releases, and is featured on several movie soundtracks. Exhaustive lists of releases can be found on the fan websites linked below.