Mettallic Rock - Helms Alee - Weatherhead

New on vinyl from Hydra Head Records, who have one of the coolest wensites going. Helms Ale - Weatherhead. Colored vinyl, 180g pressing. Getting the technical out of the way - great, quiet pressing. Superb artwork an packaging. Sounds just great.

Some of the most interesting music around today gets lumped under the 'metal' genre, which is unfortunate, as a lot of the stuff coming from labels like Hydra Head, and Neurot, and even Southern Lords, is heavy - but takes much from genres like prog, hard rock, grindcore, and grunge as well as many elements of the classic rock these bands no doubt grew up on. What we are seeing today is musicians, and music, emerging that draws from a multitude of influences and seamlessly blending them into unique forms. I kind of understand where these bands are coming from - I started with Back Sabbath, Audience, Caravan, Bitched Brew, Billy Cobham, Family, Traffic, Ted Nugent, Coltrane, Steve Hillage, and a hundred others - and to me, they all originate from the same DNA.

Helms Alee is a case in point. It's heavy. For sure, this is heavy on the fuzz box riffs. Yet, beyond the riffs, there is a lot more subtelty happening here, and a much wider sonic palette. It's part a heavy metal blast, but part a moody hard rock anthem piece. Anyway, it's a very good record, turn it up very loud and let it wash over you, it's another great record from Hydra Head. Five doobies.