In 1989, Page Hamilton co-founded the New York-based Helmet, fusing Zeppelinesque riffing with a vehement post-hardcore precision, augmented by dense chords and offbeat time signatures based in Hamilton’s formal jazz training. The combination was that rarest of visionary creations–it was successful in its own time. After their 1990 debut album Strap It On (on revered
In 1989, Page Hamilton co-founded the New York-based Helmet, fusing Zeppelinesque riffing with a vehement post-hardcore precision, augmented by dense chords and offbeat time signatures based in Hamilton’s formal jazz training. The combination was that rarest of visionary creations–it was successful in its own time. After their 1990 debut album Strap It On (on revered indie label Amphetamine Reptile), Helmet unleashed the major label Meantime (1992), a widely acclaimed album that earned a Grammy nomination, went gold, and launched a thousand other bands. Betty followed in 1994, successfully branching out from the band’s ferocious attack and into more varied musical waters. Another acclaimed album Aftertaste followed in 1997 and after nine years and thousands of shows, Helmet called it a day in 1998.
Hamilton went on to do soundtrack work for major Hollywood movies like Catwoman, S.W.A.T., Titus, and Saw, among others, formed the band Gandhi, and, following in the footsteps of greats like Adrian Belew and Stevie Ray Vaughan, played lead guitar in David Bowie’s band in 1999. In 2004 Hamilton restarted Helmet, releasing two acclaimed albums–Size Matters in 2004, Monochrome in 2006–and Seeing Eye Dog in 2010.
Bands such as the Deftones, Rise Against, Pantera and Tool have all cited Helmet as an influence, and not just for Helmet’s blistering, aggro approach but for the band’s sheer musicality and brains. See, Helmet, among other things, is a work of art. Hamilton is a trained musician who happens to make heavy, brutal music, a guy who digs Bartok and Minor Threat.
Helmet are pleased to announce a European Betty 20th Anniversary tour in September/October 2014. The band will be playing their critically lauded 1994 Betty album in full, along with a set spanning the entirety of Helmet’s catalog.
Billed as the “thinking man’s metal band,” Helmet provided an alternative to the grunge bands coming out of the US at the time with their clean cut aesthetic and raw, unrelenting, propulsive sound. Betty came on the trails of the band’s first mainstream success, 1992’s Meantime. The cut “Milquetoast” became a music video staple on MTV and the album was critically praised for its genre-defying exploration into jazz, blues and improvisation. As music writer Darrell Bassett wrote upon the album’s release, “The thump and grind of Betty fully reflects the seemingly meaningless forces that shape our hi-tech existences, the inner pressure that waxes and wanes as life’s pace explodes exponentially and its occasional moments of grace. Betty is a surprising album, one which grows as it unfolds its subtleties.” A prophetic statement if ever there was one.
“Helmet made rhythmically complex steely-riffed alterna-metal that punished your body from weird angles…” – Rolling Stone Magazine
“Helmet have carved – or, rather, bludgeoned – a niche as primary exponents of pummeling, monolithic, heavy guitar-rock. The sheer size and power of their sound dwarfs all but the most extreme of hardcore bands, but there’s a precision to Helmet’s sound that sets them apart.” – Time Off Magazine (1994 Betty album review)
