Helmet

Do you enjoy getting down to brass tacks? Or are you more of a steel fan? Tacks not big enough for you? Then how about a massive, industrial-strength, steel-bore drill manned by a terse, aggravated drill sergeant? Then you're in luck, because Helmet is coming to town. Way back yonder, in the dim and misty reaches of the early '90s, this group of nondescript young noisemongers from New York City pulled out all the stops and all the midrange and formed the alt.-metal juggernaut known as Helmet. Led by Page Hamilton, a Big Black enthusiast and jazzbo with a fondness for dropped-D notes, Helmet caught the attention of the major labels during the grunge signing frenzy with its abrasive, hammering debut, Strap It On. The followup, Meantime, sold more than a million copies and won numerous hearts and minds, but the band gradually sank into mediocrity, and disbanded in 1998. In 2004, Helmet reformed with original producer Wharton Tiers and a new rhythm section, and now it's once again ready to drag its heavy, metallic knuckles through the tender pink meat of your skull.