Helmet

小簡介
Helmet是一支1989年成立于美國紐約的另類金屬樂隊，樂隊成員包括主唱兼吉他手Page Hamilton，貝斯手Henry Bogdan，主音吉他手Peter Mengede和鼓手and John Stanier。樂隊19年間成員曾經(jīng)更換多次，但也許我們并不容易發(fā)現(xiàn)這點，因為主唱始終是Hamilton。
Helmet至今一共發(fā)行過六張專輯和兩張精選輯（其中1995年的精選輯選了樂隊之前未公開發(fā)表的單曲）。他們被主流音樂界所接受并在商業(yè)上大獲成功是在1992年他們第二張專輯《Meantime》發(fā)行后,單曲 "Unsung" 和 "In the Meantime"首次躋身公告牌榜單，在新專輯榜中甚至一路飆升至榜首。在相繼發(fā)行兩張專輯后，Helmet于1998年解散，但在2004年重組。在今年晚些時候，他們發(fā)行了重組后的第一張專輯"Size Matters" ,這也是他們在 Interscope Records旗下發(fā)行的最后一張唱片。2006年7月18日，Helmet在毫無征兆的情況下轉(zhuǎn)投Warcon Records并發(fā)行最新專輯"Monochrome"。
Helmet強悍野蠻的音樂風(fēng)格，一部分源于重金屬和硬搖滾，另一部則來源于樂隊本身簡單、直接的作風(fēng)。Helmet瑣碎的和弦、周而復(fù)始的扭曲催眠感和奄奄一息的垂死的節(jié)拍合成了他們獨特的音樂，沒有一絲一毫的圓滑和做作。Helmet不是那種可以讓你幸福一生，終身受用的樂隊，他們一直熱衷于制造一種野蠻的音樂，而且為之感到無比的自豪。
Like many influential bands, Helmet was born out of an unusual set of influences. Oregon-born guitarist and founder Page Hamilton had actually moved to New York City to study jazz, but found inspiration in the late 80s through post-punk acts Sonic Youth, Killing Joke, and Big Black, and envisioned a group that combined then-unusual tunings (particularly dropped-D) with uneven and jazz-like time signatures and harmonies. The result was Helmet, the East Coasts answer to Seattles then-underground sensation Soundgarden. Hamilton recruited bassist Henry Bogdan from Oregon, along with Australian guitarist Peter Mengede and Florida drummer John Stanier for the groups first incarnation. Helmets independent label debut EP, Strap It On, showcased the groups raw power — both instrumentally and in Hamiltons growling vocals — through tracks like the mocking Sinatra and rocking Bad Mood. Signed to the Interscope label soon thereafter, the same lineup released its breakthrough 1992 CD Meantime. MTV aired three videos by Helmet, then the only band close to the Seattle grunge sound on the East Coast, in Give It, In the Meantime, and the distorted, stop-and-start showcase Unsung. Hamilton, Bogdan, and Stanier collaborated with Irish rap group House of Pain on Just Another Victim, for the 1993 film Judgment Night, after Mengede left the band. The popular soundtrack (with its unorthodox mix of rappers and alternative bands like Ice-T and Slayer, Sir Mix-a-Lot and Mudhoney) created even more of a demand for Helmets next CD. Replacing Mengede with guitarist Rob Echeverria on 1994s Betty, Hamilton crafted an album even more versatile — and at times even heavier — than Meantime. The song Milquetoast appeared on the soundtrack to the hit film The Crow; Staniers unrelenting drumming drove tracks like I Know, and Hamiltons jazz background showed on the cover of Dizzy Gillespies Beautiful Love. Yet Betty proved to be a critical success but a commercial failure, its versatility relegating it to the cutout bins. Echeverria left Helmet in the mid-90s to join Biohazard, and the band bought time to refocus by releasing the Born Annoying collection of B-sides in 1995. Hamilton played all the guitar parts for 1997s Aftertaste — but his vocals sounded like his heart just wasnt in a group in which he couldnt keep a rhythm guitarist, and the album proved a disappointment. After touring with Orange 9mms Chris Traynor on guitar and much deliberation, Helmet disbanded in 1999. But the Helmet influence was heard throughout rock, whether by Hamiltons involvement with industrial groups (Nine Inch Nails) or indirectly through metal acts (System of a Down), and even the atonal distortion of rap-rock hybrids such as Korn and Limp Bizkit.
Helmet returned in 2004 when Hamilton recruited Traynor and a new rhythm section consisting of drummer John Tempesta (Rob Zombie, Testament) and bassist Frank Bello (Anthrax). Signed to Interscope, the group released Size Matters in October. They switched to Warcon/Fontana for 2006s Monochrome.