DATE: JUNE
22, 2004
FROM:
MITCH SCHNEIDER/LIBBY HENRY/KRISTINE ASHTON-MAGNUSON
HELMET
RETURN WITH ‘SIZE MATTERS’
SEPTEMBER 14 ON INTERSCOPE RECORDS
HELMET
return September 14 with SIZE
MATTERS (Interscope), their
first collection of new music in seven years. Singer/guitarist/founder PAGE
HAMILTON has reactivated the HELMET name with guitarist CHRIS
TRAYNOR (Orange 9mm, Bush, Helmet), drummer JOHN TEMPESTA (Rob Zombie,
Testament), and bassist FRANK
BELLO (Anthrax).
SIZE MATTERS refers to, according to HAMILTON,
“An obsession in American culture with higher, louder, bigger and
faster. There are no rewards or regard for integrity and progressive thought
anymore.”
Produced
by HAMILTON with assistance from producer Jay Baumgardner and former Nine Inch
Nails associate Charlie Clouser, SIZE MATTERS imaginatively merges the
band’s vocabulary (minimalist crushing riffs, taut rhythmic propulsion,
clusterbomb solos and seething lyrical invective) with a greater melodic sense.
SIZE
MATTERS is a powerful return to the kind
of fury that raged under the HELMET banner. Recorded as a trio with TRAYNOR on
bass (BELLO signed on to fill the bass slot so TRAYNOR could return to his
guitar duties when HELMET tours later this fall), the disc features all the
punishing riff economy HAMILTON has built his reputation on, but instead of
delivering “Meantime In 2K4,” HAMILTON has added more melodic parts for
TRAYNOR and TEMPESTA to drive. HELMET 2K4 has all the vision and the energy
level needed to stand out in these dangerous times. The disc's 11 cuts offer a
plethora of sonic invention and punishing riffage. There's the vicious
big-dumb-sex of "Smart"; the bone-snapping pit bull disguised as a
C-(maj7) chord that's anchoring "See You Dead"; the menacing chromatic
scales on "Throwing Punches"; and the closing "Last Breath,"
which delivers a decidedly "old-school" HELMET vibe. SIZE MATTERS
is a rare thing: a record made by veterans who haven't mellowed with age, but
have no reason to erect a monument to their past.
“In
the past few years I’ve been fortunate enough to sit in the company of people
like Bowie, Bono and film composer Elliot Goldenthal and I soaked up a lot of
ideas from those people, says HAMILTON, illuminating the path that got him to
make SIZE MATTERS. “It gave me the confidence in my own writing. You
listen to those early HELMET records and you’ll hear that
‘anti-songwriter’ vibe I had going around back then. I was using my voice as
a rhythmic instrument, with less regard for the meaning of the words. Now I
appreciate clarity.”
Over
the course of nine years and four coruscating albums, HELMET was the vehicle for
HAMILTON's reductionist rock aesthetic, a vision that bridged the gaps between
underground-rock geeks, cosmopolitan art-snobs and populist headbangers looking
for a new fix. Their 1991 Amphetamine Reptile debut Strap It On helped
define a brusque element of America's underground-rock scene, while its
follow-up for Interscope, 1992's Meantime sold over a million copies and
helped lay waste to America's vacuous hair-farming metal scene. The band
released two more albums, Betty (1994) and Aftertaste (1996),
prior to breaking up in 1998. Interscope/Universal
Chronicles issued Unsung: The Best Of Helmet 1991-1997, earlier
this year, a collection whose parts still sound as fierce as they did on their
respective release dates.
HAMILTON
had remained busy since HELMET's dissolution six years ago. He went to New
Orleans to write songs with programmer Charlie Clouser down at Trent Reznor’s
studio. He did many sessions for film scores (S.W.A.T,
The Good Thief, In Dreams, Titus) and worked on a rock-guitar
opera (“Transposed Heads”). In addition, HAMILTON recorded with a diverse array of artists including
California electronica merchants Uberzone and mutant trumpeter Ben Neill as well
as toured with David Bowie for four months behind his ”…hours”
album.
Check out www.helmetmusic.com
and stay tuned for tour news.
MSO Contacts:
Libby Henry
Lhenry@msopr.com
818.380.0400 x224
Kristine Ashton-Magnuson
Kashton@msopr.com
818.380.0400 x233
Mitch Schneider
Mschneider@msopr.com
818-380-0400 x235
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