AFTERTASTE
“First I drink, then I smoke…”
Everyone already knows that when you mix heavy blues, rock, and jazz, the result is Black Sabbath.
Now, if you mix some Sabbath with a hardcore foundation, a liberal splash of misanthropic loathing for fake people, and a generous portion of brutal grooves seasoned with discordant jazz noises, the result is HELMET.
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HELMET’S fourth outing, AFTERTASTE, is a sonic collection of laser focused apathy seething out of every track due to the manufactured “swath” of counterfeit people on this planet that are ultimately responsible for inspiring the bristling lyrical & musical ire of Page Hamilton.
Released March 18, 1997
Studio Capitol & Hollywood Sound in LA and RPM in NY
Label Interscope
Producer Dave Sardy, Helmet
Band
Henry Bogdan – bass
Page Hamilton – guitar, vocals
John Stanier – drums
Track listing
1. "Pure"
2. "Renovation"
3. "Exactly What You Wanted"
4. "Like I Care"
5. "Driving Nowhere"
6. "Birth Defect"
7. "Broadcast Emotion"
8. "It's Easy to Get Bored"
9. "Diet Aftertaste"
10. "Harmless"
11. "(High) Visibility"
12. "Insatiable"
13. "Crisis King"
Get your “sandwich boards” ready and learn how to “maximize your workout routine” to eliminate any surrounding “butthole smoke” that may linger before the commencement of any overly whispery ASMR Battles. Gear up for the “boycott “and JOIN US as we go back to The Days of Yore from 1997 and consume the sublime venom of HELMET’s AFTERTASTE.
PURE:
Soft intro alert. Not quite as soft as the Whisperthon, but definitely a softer than average intro for Helmet. (No pun or verbal flaccidity intended or implied).
Don’t deny the power of jazz in metal; whether it’s chords or phrasing, it certainly helps add significant sonic weight. Those chords have a melodically discordant quality to them. Also, definitely read those lyrics…there’s a palpable rage embedded within those words.
“Affected by what you had lost
They’re not the habits you’d protect at any cost…”
RENOVATION:
Like with any good hardcore music, there must always be a message that clobbers you across the head with absolute truth like receiving an unwanted elbow to the face while in the pit. So many “people” in the world are nothing more than mindless, soulless, empty vessels whose fake exterior is completely incongruent with their actual self, which is as confusing a paradox as say, a homeless billionaire. It defies logic.
The guitar solo possesses that kind of sheer uncontrolled, relentlessly atonal dissonance and doesn’t follow any real melody (again, much like jazz).
“When its time to leave this place
I’ll follow what comes easy
Elude the human race
Discover what still feeds me…”
EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANTED:
Whoa. This truly is “smart” metal. The lyrics Page was writing and expressing were certainly reflective of the fakeness and mediocrity that dominates society (and also, the music business), running rampant and ruining everything. Just fake people faking their way through a fake life to be a social slave to some manufactured fake persona rather than being their REAL, genuine, authentic, true selves.
“I’m not so good at realizing
Who I can or cannot trust
Its best to keep what matters vague
With harmless lies I can adjust…”
LIKE I CARE:
The heaviness of just the bass and the drums really adds an anticipation for when the guitars come in and fill out the rest of the brutal soundscape. The multi-layered chords have a strange way of blending together and creating the kind of sound you’d be able to make if you had 11 fingers on your fretting hand…not sure what that chord would even look like (or WTF It would even be called) but I’m sure it would involve some extremely “complicated fingering” techniques. (Because with guitarists, proper fingering is essential.)
“It always feels good to be right
And if it helps you sleep at night
I’ll tell you what you want to hear
And act like I care.”
DRIVING NOWHERE:
We’ve said it before and will say it again: those nontraditional chords really do add significant swagger and extra sonic density to Helmet’s riffs.
Never really read the lyric sheet (in the compact disc inlay) until now and H.F.S! Sounds like most of us have interacted with these types of people before: y’know, people who will use their disordered psyches to justify the reason why they’re an asshole.
How about that cool backwards guitar solo? Sounds like some super experimental avantgarde jazz superhero who fights crime by playing super dissonant chords and phrases that require a “magical piece of paper” in music theory and causes potential evil doers to fart themselves into choking clouds of buttsmoke that closely resemble any given vape shop on any given day.
“Confront the daily setbacks
All the lows and highs
With anesthetic means I’m
Fit to socialize…”
BIRTH DEFECT:
You can tell this one is going to be a good one (i.e., pissed off) right out of the gate by the energy. Furious, frenetic, and frantic (along with a bunch of other descriptive “F” words…) it’s got that heightened anxiety and urgency that really defines the overall Helmet aesthetic. We’ve all dealt with the types of people portrayed in these lyrics at some point in our lives. They’re out there, and they’re breeding like mad.
“You’ve got it down just feed them lines and watch them starve to death.
Keep them crowded and short of air then you can take their last breath.
BROADCAST EMOTION:
Their sound really is like a steamroller of heaviness and groove. The solo breaks are just structured chaos to highlight the frustration of having to deal with people in life are soulless and unreal and have a bad “aftertaste” to them. You know the type: always parading around with their manufactured importance and their drapes of beef on full display so that all can behold their beautifully fake splendor.
“You’re always vocal, affecting passion
Wholesale opinions will stay in fashion.”
IT’S EASY TO GET BORED:
The way it starts with just the guitar and vocals and then everyone comes in to join the groove. That end/outro riff/breakdown section…very cool. Also, very cool layering with the different riffs being played on different sides of the mix, with the main riff on the left channel and an accent riff on the right channel.
Can you hear the tambourine back there? You know what that means? Helmet is now “unofficially officially” an Industrial band (because tambourine).
Always fascinating how they build up these grooves and then transition into something similar but just slightly different enough to make you question what you just heard…truly “smart” metal.
“I don’t have time to waste
I’m busy cultivating useless good taste…”
DIET AFTERTASTE:
Honestly, this is why most diet drinks are despised: the aftertaste of fake “sugar” (which, ironically, is what makes it bolth “diet” and less healthy). Again, more fake, surface level people at which to lyrically seethe.
For the record, there’s definitely no “…AJFA” bass production here (not by a LONG shot!!!). But just imagine for a moment…nahhh. Forget I brought it up…but think about what it would sound like though.
“I’d send that brain you ration
To feed the smallest starving nation
But diet aftertaste is rude
And I can’t digest a single word.”
HARMLESS:
“1…2…3…4!”
Definitely a different way to open. That drum breakdown near the end is really cool.
Wait…Is that two drum kits playing at the same time or is that just double-tracked drums? Irregardless: it’s very cool.
(And before everyone gets their tindels overly twanglified, “irregardless” IS, in fact, an actual word. It just happens to mean the exact same thing as “regardless.” Isn’t the English language so much fun? See? Smart Metal.)
“But you’re a star
Just like any accomplished liar
You can make it at last
Never let a good lie pass.”
(HIGH) VISIBILITY:
There’s nothing as ballsy as those drums and bass…until the guitar comes in. Still blown away by the lyrics for this album overall; really deep and analytical (and “smart” and relevant).
It’s been said that true art is something that resonates so strongly it almost feels “personal” to you because it speaks directly to you.
“Grubbing for any contact I can make
Then dig in deep to get ahead…
INSATIABLE:
There’s something about the tempo of this song that is right in the pocket. It’s the perfect “Helmet” speed. That build/interlude section that acts like a bridge back to the chorus is very cool. Like traveling through some interdimensional musical wormhole.
There’s definitely a more personal kind of rage with Helmet. It’s strangely, a more intimate kind of misanthropia. What a paradox!
(Sorry, just trying to milk this “smart men’s metal” thing as much as I can by using a lot of big words).
“I need somebody to hate
I need someone that I can imitate
The attention that I crave
It’s self-esteem that I can almost save.”
CRISIS KING:
Again, perfect Helmet speed. And a perfect closer.
“Speaking of dissonance…” how about that ending? One might say the ending to this song sums up the Metal Nerdery Podcast mission statement: to be as exhausting, off-putting, irresponsible, and dissonant as possible at all times for the sake of our own collective sanity and your sheer entertainment enjoyment.
“The sole provision he needs to live
Is what he can take, he’s got nothing
To give…”
Immediate Future
Beer of the Episode beer
Pipeworks Brewing Company
Show Notes:
(00:01): #steamrollerballs #patentpending #nothingbutnuts #waitwhat #softintro #thatsnotit ***WARNING!!!*** #listenerdiscretionisadvised #offputting #irresponsible and #exhausting ***WELCOME BACK TO THE METAL NERDERY PODCAST WITH ALL OF THE ANESTHESIA!!!*** #sobrietytalking #thisepisodesclinkyoftheepisode #captainmorgan #orangevanilla #recordscratch #downbelow #regardingthedocket #checkyourlocallistings / “My #favoritekindofporn and my #newfavoritething” #alotofintake #competitveeating #thankyouforthat #metalnerderysalutes #SouthPark (see our #priorepisodes for details) / #sippingoutofyourbasement #USBbottle / “You can talk about anything here…” / #Motorhead is also in the #boozegame / “It took till 2012 to #legalize #sundayalcoholsales in #Georgia “ #conspiracytheoryASMR / #WTF #getyourshittogether #bureaucratards / #shoutout to #InTheLandOfLies #podcast and #RussellsReflections #conflictofinterest #corruptcopsASMR #drugwardouchebags and #illegalrelaxers / “That’s why we’re #numbertwo” / #onmicburpASMR / Fun with words… #oxymoron
(14:18): #thisepisodesbeeroftheepisode #ImmediateFuture #PipeWorksBrewingCompany with a #coolalbumcover #bolth #sixpercentABV ***Hit us up on #facebook or #instagram or send us an email at metalnerdery@gmail.com or you can LEAVE US A VOICEMAIL AT 980-666-8182!!!*** #thevoicemailsegment #itsgonnahappensoon #TheChronicles #boycott #nudesandwichboardASMR #thatmanisablessin #instanthilarity
(19:28): #uptempojingle #remixedandremastered WE’LL PLAY YOUR SHIT-AH!!! / Some #Quicksand #tangentionalality to the #Helmet and #Clutch #tourstop in #Atlanta / “I would go back to…#insertonmicburpnoisehere”) / FAZER #heavyhardcore #hadyallbangedyet #MetalNerderySnort #theyellowone #dingdongday GIVING THE PAST AWAY (***NOTE: Also go check out MISSLE COMMAND ***) #verythick / “I think it goes somewhere…”
(26:11): Post concert review: #RussellsConcertReviews (Part 2; see our #Clutch episode for Part 1 of the #metalnerderyconcertreview) “They softened up and they hardened back up later…” / #bonerupyourfuture #timetravelASMR / #TheDocket: Helmet: Aftertaste #albumdive / “Are you NOT a Helmet guy?” / “The first-time hearing #Aftertaste was through #qualityspeakers”/ March 18, 1997 / Have you ever seen Helmet LIVE!? / #mynewfavoritevenue #perfectacoustics / “Remember that weird aftertaste?” #pissandpennies #byrequest / “The genius of marketing and using #cancelculture to your advantage” (DO NOT piss off the #counterculture, we NEED them.) / #somuchASMR #whisperfuckmarathonASMR PURE #softintro / ***Go check out our #MetalNerderyPodcast Facebook page to see some pics from the show in Atlanta*** #thunderballs / “Where’s the first place you saw Helmet?” #markthetime #BeavisAndButthead / Another #boxlessband #ninetiesmetal / #ASMRBattle / RENOVATION / “Homeless billionaires” / #smartmensmetal and the incorporation of jazz in metal / “Who’s to say that drug addicts aren’t geniuses?” / #markthetime regarding #thelefthand / #buttholesmoke
(46:13): #TrainingSession for #TheShroomChronicles EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANTED #multipletimesignatures / “It’s not hard to play, it’s hard to write…” / LIKE I CARE #cuethebass #waitfortheoncomingballs / “It’s so much more filled out…” / “That’s Monday, not Sunday…” DRIVING NOWHERE / Lineup changes from Meantime forward / #TheDaveMustaineOfHelmet / “HOW do people fuck up names so easily?” / BIRTH DEFECT “I’m gonna go break shit…” #diabolicaldungeonballs #tappingtechnique BROADCAST EMOTION #flappedout #beefdrapes “The drapes of beef…”
(1:00:19): ITS EASY TO GET BORED (“I hear some #BeachBoys in the production…” Ummm, do huh?) / #thenewmath and #ThePrimusBox “YOU are your OWN box!” #onemansopinion / DIET AFTERTASTE #moreballs #magicalpieceofpaper / HARMLESS #syncopation #Patented #hallcountymatingcall #soundsdelicious / (HIGH) VISIBILITY #wheresthebass #steamrollersymphony (#stonercore or #alternativemetalcore or #smartmensmetal) it’s a brand new #genre of #jeanwree and the future impact on a potential #swathofhumans
(1:12:55): INSATIABLE “I need somebody to hate!” / Helmet anger vs thrash anger / #hereitcomes / #killercloser CRISIS KING #buckleup / #pelinsula / “How does #cockfat factor into one’s #workoutroutine?” / “Which is worse: hot ranch or crab dip flavored #bodyodor?” / “I’m glad I swallowed, now I’ll be ready…”) #markthetime #memereadingmomentASMR / No tracking adjustments needed / #ilovethehelmet #istilllovethehelmet #itsmarked / THANK YOU FOR JOINING US FOR OUR DIVE INTO AFTERTASTE!!! #untilthenext #snarkycuntleryballs #thelastword ***PLEASE VISIT OUR 33RD FLOOR #IUBPSGiftShoppe at metalnerdery.com/merch *** #longlivemetalnerdery #hehahuh
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