Helmet - Monochrome
Warcon
Groovy Alternative Metal
11 songs (41:54)
Release year: 2006
Helmet, Warcon
Reviewed by Khelek
Archive review

After reforming in 2004, Helmet released Size Matters, their first album in over six years. Monochrome is the follow-up to that impressive release and sees the band exploring their sound a bit more and seems like the logical progression from Size Matters. The songs are not really more complex, but they are different somehow. I think there is just more going on in this album in terms of experimentation than there was on the previous album. It is as if the guys used the first album to get their confidence back and now are ready to lay down some more progressive stuff. The end result is enjoyable as usual.

Swallowing Everything starts the album off with the usual heavy guitars and weird time signature paired with some rougher vocals of Page Hamilton. This first track sounds rougher and angrier than most stuff on Size Matters and Aftertaste. The guitars also sound even more distorted than usual. The guitar solo is interesting because it is so loud, in your face, and just plain dirty. However the overall feel of the song is similar to much of their recent past as it still uses one main, catchy guitar riff repeating throughout the song. The next couple songs continue in this manner, using heavy guitar riffs, and the rougher vocals of Page Hamilton taking center stage. Then the title track begins much softer, Hamilton using a clean, much more melodic vocal approach and the overall tempo of the song slowing down and sounding more alternative rock than anything. So far the drumming on this album seems to be pretty simple, but very well executed and going perfectly with the music. After the title track the songs alternate between the aggressive approach of the first few tracks and the calmness found on the title track. Almost Out Of Sight is an example of a slower song that uses a really interesting guitar riff paired with some cleaner vocal work. 410 gets right in your face with quick guitar and drum work and the angrier, raw sounding vocals, becoming a bit more melodic in the chorus. I did notice that many of the songs on this album tend to be either angry or calm, but not a whole lot in between. Perhaps this inspired the album title to some extent.

I think there's a bit more experimentation going on in the guitar department than on Size Matters, as can be heard in songs like Bury Me and Almost Out Of Sight. It feels to me like the band found their direction and keep building on that sound and trying different ideas. I think it works well, never sounding dull and keeping you interested. As I listened to this album I found myself looking forward to each song with excitement, wondering what would come next. Overall the general feeling of this album reminds me of Size Matters, but none of the songs come out sounding like they've been done before, each of them bringing something interesting and different to the table. In short this is another thoroughly enjoyable Helmet album.

Killing Songs :
Brand New, Monochrome,Almost Out Of Sight, 410
Khelek quoted 90 / 100
Other albums by Helmet that we have reviewed:
Helmet - Seeing Eye Dog reviewed by Khelek and quoted 72 / 100
Helmet - Aftertaste reviewed by Khelek and quoted 95 / 100
Helmet - Size Matters reviewed by Khelek and quoted 89 / 100
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