metal

Helmet / Silver Cord Sessions

It was back in the mid-90s, on the irreverant US adult cartoon Bevis and Butthead that I first encountered Helmet. The song was “Wilma’s Rainbow” and I was hooked.

The eponymous hosts were commenting on how ordinary the band members looked, and that if you saw them walking down the street, you wouldn’t realise how cool they were. Cos they’re in a band.

Ladies and gentlemen – and Betty… and Wilma – Helmet live at Silver Cord Studio, New York in March 2025.

Track listing

00:00 Wilma’s Rainbow
04:15 I Know
08:04 Milquetoast

Band

Page Hamilton—Vocals and guitar
Dan Beeman—Rythm guitar and backing vocals
Dave Case—Bass and backing vocals
Kyle Stevenson—Drums and backing vocals

Amplifier announces live web concert

One of my favourite bands, Amplifier, has just announced they will be playing a live web concert in November or December 2024 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their self-titled debut album which they will be playing in its entirety.

Opeth—§1

Exciting news this week: there is a new Opeth album on its way!

The Last Will and Testament (2024) will be released on Friday 11 October 2024, their 14th studio album and their first in five years.

Why metalheads are happier people

This short video (9 minutes 9 seconds) popped up on my YouTube feed the other day. It resonated in many ways for me, particularly the part about catharsis.

A prophecy from Jonah’s Ark?

Growing up, people would often ask me why I listened to metal—wasn’t it filled with evil lyrics and violence? No, not all of it.

Listening to metal exposed me at an influential age to a wide range of views and opinions, many of which touched me. Megadeth sang about the pain of losing someone close to you (“In My Darkest Hour”), Testament sang about the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre (“Seven Days in May”). But consistently Martin Walkyier-era Skyclad sang about the urgent need to look after the earth.

I know that it was easy for some of my Christian friends to dismiss Skyclad out of hand because they marketed themselves as a pagan folk metal band. But I always felt that they spoke about the earth and nature with such love and respect that it influenced how I thought and treated this remarkable rock on which we live, spinning around our nearest star. Perhaps not enough, though.

During one of the hottest weeks I’ve ever known in Scotland, I was in the car the other day – I know! but the supermarket is too far away to walk to, especially with my poor health – listening to Skyclad’s 1993 album, Jonah’s Ark when the song “Tunnel visionaries” started.