Helmet

Formed in New York in 1989 around guitarist and singer Page Hamilton — who had previously played with Band of Susans and comes from a jazz background — Helmet occupies the intersection of alternative metal, post-hardcore and noise rock. The band first emerged on the American independent scene with Strap It On in 1990, then quickly refined an identity built on sharp, syncopated riffs, broken tempos, abrasive guitar and taut songwriting, closer to friction than to bombast. The group reached a new level with Meantime in 1992 and followed with Betty in 1994 and Aftertaste in 1997, while appearing across the 1990s rock and metal milieu, notably via the track "Just Another Victim" recorded with House of Pain for the Judgment Night soundtrack. After splitting in 1998, Helmet returned in 2004 at the initiative of Page Hamilton — the only constant member — with a revised lineup and the album Size Matters, followed by Monochrome (2006), Seeing Eye Dog (2010), Dead to the World (2016) and Left (2023). Since that reformation Helmet has operated as a quartet centered on Hamilton, balancing fidelity to its rhythmic language with the continuation of a heavy, tense and angular rock.