Helmet - Dead To The World

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Nobody in the United States sound quite like Heavy metal legends HELMET from New York. They cleverly blend the genres of Classic Rock, Heavy Metal, Punk Rock and Alternative into a powerful, clear-headed force that has been kicking ass since early 1989. Still lead by founding member, guitar player and lead singer Page Hamilton, a man that consistently plugs out another solid full-length record with the same lineup the band has had since 2011.

HELMET’s new album "Dead To The World" is an oddity. It is not a far departure from their older albums, and but it is a charming beast. HELMET have been putting out hard-hitting and tremendously loud Alternative Rock and Metal for over twenty years. And yet, despite that fact, and despite the fact that the band’s seminal album "Meantime" is a certified Gold Record, not that many people really know of HELMET all that well.

There are so many different influences on these songs, both musical and personal. Many of these songs, like "Bad News", "Life Or Death" and "Dead To The World", seem to reflect the disappointed political attitude Page Hamilton has towards the society of the United States. There is a lot of anger, frustration, and disappointment in the lyrics and vocals on these songs. But there are lots of influences from such artists as PINK FLOYD, STEALERS WHEEL and early ALICE COOPER while still keeping their feet very firmly planted in the area of 90’s Alternative Metal and Rock. It wouldn’t be fair to compare HELMET to bands like STONE TEMPLE PILOTS or SMASHING PUMPKINS because these bands were peers of HELMET. HELMET is truly a sound all its own.

The addition of synthesizers really bring out the full gravity of songs like "Dead To The World" and "Look Alive". I thought this does take away the raw edge of HELMET a little bit. I think the overall impression I got from "Dead To The World" was that this new HELMET is one that is much softer around the edges. The deep-ceded power of their biggest single ever "Unsung" isn’t really present in any of these tracks. Though that may be because of the absence of recording wizard Steve Albini, but this album is mostly barking and barely any biting.

With that being said, "Dead To The World" is another good album from HELMET. I would love to hear this music included with modern Radio-friendly Rock music to thin out the lower quality bands that lurk in that realm. Then again, this album still tends to play nice with its audience which  takes it down a notch as far as a tough-sounding Metal album.  Its a nice album but for anyone who was expecting HELMET to stay in the character of how they sounded like in their "Unsung" era, they have another thing coming.