Helmet (band)
Helmet |
|---|
Helmet is an American rock band formed in New York City by Page Hamilton (vocals/guitar) with Henry Bogdan (bass), Peter Mengede (guitar) and John Stanier (drums) in 1989.
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." Eschewing the traditional heavy metal image of long hair and black clothing, the band preferred simple sweaters and jeans, with short haircuts. 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 or drop-C tuning. The guitar sound is heavily distorted and dissonant, with choruses that often involve guitar feedback waves.
Before Hamilton had settled on a name for the group, Peter Mengede's then-girlfriend suggested the name "Helmut". Opting for the Anglicized spelling, Hamilton thought Helmet "sounded like a cool name for a band." [1] Other names considered were "Cry Ruth" and "Poly Orchids", along with the more esoteric "Tuna Lorenzo" and "Froth Albumen".
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 U.S. 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. In early 1993, guitarist Peter Mengede left on bad terms and was replaced by Rob Echeverria. His debut with the band, Betty, was released in 1994. Despite managing the band's highest-ever chart position on the Billboard 200 at number 45, the album failed to sell as much as Meantime. Total U.S. sales of Betty are just over 275,000 as of April 2006. After recording and touring in support of Betty, Echeverria left to join Biohazard; however, his departure was much more amicable than Mengede's.
The band elected to push on and record 1997's Aftertaste as a three-piece. After recording was complete, guitarist Chris Traynor (formerly of Orange 9mm) was recruited for the supporting tour. By this time, Interscope's interest in the band was on the decline. Although "Exactly What You Wanted" became a moderate radio hit, the album spent only a few weeks on the Billboard 200 and has sold 135,000 copies as of April 2006. 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. Asked about the break up, Hamilton replied, "9 years, 1600 shows, 5 albums and we found it hard to look at each other anymore." [2]
Aftermath and reformation
Henry Bogdan returned home to Oregon and began playing steel guitar for the Midnight Serenaders. Page Hamilton relocated from New York to Los Angeles and became involved in many different projects, from playing guitar for David Bowie to doing sessions for film scores. He periodically returned to New York to work with 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 had resisted for some time under the belief that without Stanier and Bogdan it couldn't rightly be called Helmet. He had always wanted to revive Helmet, but his relationships with Bogdan and Stanier had not improved since 1998 and his offer to reunite was rebuffed and/or ignored. [3][4] Fed up with the situation, and with Interscope's offer as a major catalyst, Hamilton 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 was later recruited to play bass on the supporting tour; however, he left before its conclusion to reunite with his old band, Anthrax. Jeremy Chatelain replaced Bello for the duration of the tour. John Tempesta left in early 2006 to join The Cult.
In late 2005, Helmet parted ways with Interscope. On 1 March 2006, an announcement was made that Helmet had signed with Warcon Enterprises and that a new album was in the works for an early summer release. Also in March, Helmet performed at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, with a temporary lineup consisting of Charlie Walker on drums, Chris Traynor on bass, and Anthony Truglio on guitar (former member of Gandhi). The new album, Monochrome, is said 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. For the album, Hamilton and Traynor returned to the studio with newly recruited drummer, Mike Jost (formerly of Adair). Helmet headlined the 2006 Warped Tour in support of Monochrome, with Jeremy Chatelain reprising his role from the 2005 Size Matters tour.
New developments
In September of 2006, shortly after the conclusion of the Warped Tour, Chris Traynor announced that he had left the band after nearly a decade of working with Page Hamilton. A few days later, Mike Jost also left the band to attend to his duties as a new father. Jeremy Chatelain has also made other commitments. Hamilton announced in early October of 2006 that the new drummer is Kyle Stevenson and the bass player is Jon Fuller, both from Milwaukee. On 18 November, Hamilton announced that the new guitar player is Jimmy Thompson, a native of Perth, Australia. Due to changes in the lineup, Hamilton was forced to cancel many shows scheduled for late 2006 in the Northeastern US and Europe. He also noted that he has no plans to record new music for the time being, due to issues with his record label. Beginning 1 December, Helmet will open for Guns N' Roses during the remainder of their North American tour.
Discography
- Strap It On (AmRep 1990, Interscope 1991)
- Meantime (Interscope 1992)
- Betty (Interscope 1994)
- Aftertaste (Interscope 1997)
- Unsung: The Best of Helmet (1991-1997) (Interscope 2004)
- Size Matters (Interscope 2004)
- Monochrome (Warcon 2006)
Helmet also has numerous singles and EP releases, and is featured on several compilations and movie soundtracks. Exhaustive lists of releases can be found on the fan websites linked below.
Singles
- Repetition - 1990
- Sinatra - 1991
- Unsung - 1992
- Give It - 1992
- In The Meantime - 1993
- Just Another Victim - 1993
- Milquetoast - 1994
- Wilma's Rainbow - 1994
- Biscuits for Smut - 1994
- Disagreeable - 1996
- Exactly What You Wanted - 1997
- Insatiable - 1997
- See You Dead - 2004
- Crashing Foreign Cars - 2004
- Gone - 2006
- Monochrome - 2006
In October 2004 "Unsung" appeared on the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack, playing on fictional Alternative station Radio X. "Crashing Foreign Cars" appeared in November 2004 on the Need For Speed: Underground 2 soundtrack. In November 2005, "Unsung" appeared on the popular PlayStation 2 game Guitar Hero.