THKD’s Top 100 Metal Albums #5: Helmet – Meantime (Interscope, 1992)

Helmet’s Meantime was an odd bird when it was released in 1992.  Straddling the line between heavy metal and the alternative rock explosion that Nirvana had ushered in a year earlier, Helmet was probably the only band capable of getting airtime on both Headbanger’s Ball and 120 Minutes.  That’s how I discovered Helmet; I was thirteen years old and just beginning my headlong dive into the world of heavy music.  I remember seeing the video for “Unsung” and being struck by several things: 1) the riffage was absolutely crushing 2) no one in the band had long hair 3) was that a fucking pink ESP?!  Helmet looked and most importantly sounded like no other band I had encountered up to that point.
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