OKComputer1016
08/17/08, 12:17 PM
Helms Alee - Night Terror
Record Label: Hydra Head Records
Release Date: August 16, 2008
Occasionally a band comes along who doesn’t necessarily contribute anything new or earth-shattering to their genre, but who does what they do so well that you’ve just got to take note. Here’s that band. With their bassy brand of excruciatingly heavy jams, Helms Alee will blow the minds of Clouds fans and/or fans of Hydra Head Records in general, but will also appeal to the post-rock market at the same time.
The key to Helms Alee’s awesomeness is their simplicity. Nothing about Night Terror is over-the-top, but rather balanced and flowing. “Grandfather Claws,” for example, will creep you out with the simplest little two-note arpeggio progression and shake your bones with the brutal Mastodon chorus. Be certain it’s not the harsh heavy-soft, cookie-cutter sound that dominates the metalcore genre. It’s just two sides of somebody’s personality battling for primary expression, and neither winning (or, both winning ... whichever way you want to look at it).
Like Torche, Helms Alee keep their brand of metal mystical with distant, shoegazey vocals that serve to calm while the guitar riles up. This really is as well-rounded as metal gets. Brutal, sludging drums aside, you really could fall asleep listening to this music, and I mean that in the good way.
“Betwixt” will remind you either of Converge or Torche; Converge because the guitar line is fucked up enough all by itself before the rest of the tracks even come in, but Torche because it’s as catchy as it is heavy, neither side being compromised. Just like all of the other tracks, there’s something identifiably haunting in the tune, but also something vaguely triumphant. You don’t know whether you should be feeling afraid or proud or both.
No, Helms Alee aren’t the most original band in the world, but not one of their chord progressions moves where you think it’s going to move, and not one of their songs falls short of headbangingly intriguing. Night Terror is the kind of record that you ought to listen to through headphones when you’re laying down in bed. You could argue that all of these songs lack hooks and that nothing is specifically memorable, and technically you would be correct. But the dreamy parts will take you away and the heavy parts will crash you back down, and I’m pretty sure that was the group’s intention when they were penning this album.
Clouds; Cave In; Torche
myspace.com/helmsaleemusic (http://www.myspace.com/helmsaleemusic)
Record Label: Hydra Head Records
Release Date: August 16, 2008
Occasionally a band comes along who doesn’t necessarily contribute anything new or earth-shattering to their genre, but who does what they do so well that you’ve just got to take note. Here’s that band. With their bassy brand of excruciatingly heavy jams, Helms Alee will blow the minds of Clouds fans and/or fans of Hydra Head Records in general, but will also appeal to the post-rock market at the same time.
The key to Helms Alee’s awesomeness is their simplicity. Nothing about Night Terror is over-the-top, but rather balanced and flowing. “Grandfather Claws,” for example, will creep you out with the simplest little two-note arpeggio progression and shake your bones with the brutal Mastodon chorus. Be certain it’s not the harsh heavy-soft, cookie-cutter sound that dominates the metalcore genre. It’s just two sides of somebody’s personality battling for primary expression, and neither winning (or, both winning ... whichever way you want to look at it).
Like Torche, Helms Alee keep their brand of metal mystical with distant, shoegazey vocals that serve to calm while the guitar riles up. This really is as well-rounded as metal gets. Brutal, sludging drums aside, you really could fall asleep listening to this music, and I mean that in the good way.
“Betwixt” will remind you either of Converge or Torche; Converge because the guitar line is fucked up enough all by itself before the rest of the tracks even come in, but Torche because it’s as catchy as it is heavy, neither side being compromised. Just like all of the other tracks, there’s something identifiably haunting in the tune, but also something vaguely triumphant. You don’t know whether you should be feeling afraid or proud or both.
No, Helms Alee aren’t the most original band in the world, but not one of their chord progressions moves where you think it’s going to move, and not one of their songs falls short of headbangingly intriguing. Night Terror is the kind of record that you ought to listen to through headphones when you’re laying down in bed. You could argue that all of these songs lack hooks and that nothing is specifically memorable, and technically you would be correct. But the dreamy parts will take you away and the heavy parts will crash you back down, and I’m pretty sure that was the group’s intention when they were penning this album.
Clouds; Cave In; Torche
myspace.com/helmsaleemusic (http://www.myspace.com/helmsaleemusic)