Ben Verellen from Harkonen is in a new band - Helms Alee.
I liked Harkonen and really liked their first single. Kinda swampy but muscular heavy rock stuff. I saw them once live and it was really good, more energy than the records and rawer.
They broke up and Ben's been dicking around for a bit and now he's in this new thing. Their new record either just came out or will be out in a bit. It's called Night Terrors.
Starts off with the distorted bass sound that anchored the Harkonen stuff and starts chugging along okay. Song two comes in and Ben starts singing along. Now this guy has a world class rock yell. A really great, musical howl that's also raw as hell. Sounds soooo much more powerful than the brutal vocal shit that everyone's tired of. So he breaks into this a few minutes into this second song and it's satisfying. Then the song turns to the left, slows down and these really pretty but still raw female harmony vocals come in and it's just great . And you know you're in for something special.
As great as it is, it took a while to grow on me, but there's at least one part in pretty much every song that makes me shake my head at how nice it is. Guitar, guy/girl vox, pounding drums, fuzzed out bass playing solid, heavy and clear rock music. All interspersed by these moments of amazing stuff.
This has become my summer of '08 record, the kind you listen to twice a day for like two weeks in a row because it takes over your brain and you ache to listen to it. I love that feeling - it's one of my favorite things about buying records.
I don't imagine that this record's going to cause a huge stir in the world, as it's not unusual or trendy. But regardless, I want to recommend it to you all because it's a special thing they've done and it should be shared by those who would like such a thing.
And fuck you all in the Northwest who get to see them live because I'll bet it's a treat and a half.
Helms Alee - Night Terror
= Justin
