Helmet is an American alternative rock band from New York City formed in 1989 by vocalist and lead guitarist Page Hamilton. Since 2010, the band has consisted of Hamilton, drummer Kyle Stevenson, guitarist Dan Beeman and bassist Dave Case.
Helmet has released eight studio albums and two compilation albums. After releasing their debut album, Strap It On (1990), on Amphetamine Reptile, Helmet signed to Interscope Records and released three albums for the label, including the highly successful Meantime (1992), Betty (1994) and Aftertaste (1997). Helmet broke up in 1998, but reformed in 2004, and has since released four more albums ― Size Matters (2004), Monochrome (2006), Seeing Eye Dog (2010) and Dead to the World (2016).
In June 2021 the band released via their website only a limited edition box set entitled “Move On” featuring 4 x 7” singles including the following covers and live tracks:
Move on (David Bowie) w/ More Bad News live
Mercy (Wire) w/ Rollo live
ETI (Blue Oyster Cult) w/ Blacktop live
I’m only sleeping (The Beatles) w/ Crisis King live
2023 saw the band return to the studio for it’s ninth album Left which was released by earMusic in November 2023.
Slomosa
Hailing from the west of Norway, the four-piece Slomosa has been making waves across borders. With their heavy sound the band coined their own genre – Tundra Rock – influenced by bands such as Kyuss, Elder and Black Sabbath – the music is both heavy and groovy at the same time, with raw vocals and thunderous guitars. After building a following through gigging in their hometown Bergen, the band started working on their debut album in ’18. In October ’19 their first single, Horses, was released to much acclaim. It showcased Slomosa’s unique ability to merge swamp riffs with catchy songwriting, catching the attention of rock fans all over the world. In late August ’20, just as the pandemic put the world on hold, the band released their much anticipated self-titled debut album.
Their music still managed to travel far and the band’s status quickly grew, being booked to a staggering eighty gigs all over Europe as the world restarted. The band has a strong live reputation, known for their loud and high-energy shows, making crowds go wild everywhere.
Cabin Fever, released July ‘23, is the first single from their highly anticipated follow-up album, title yet to be known.
“It’s fun to be excited about a new band, young, hungry, willing to tour like mad and loaded with forward potential as Slomosa are. They set a high standard for themselves with the self-titled, and “Cabin Fever” lives up to it in terms of craft and execution.” – JJ Koczan, The Obelisk(20.07.23)
War On Women
Baltimore’s War On Women were born screaming—at the world, at the status quo, in the face of oppression.
Riff-fueled manifestos are nothing new for War On Women. The co-ed feminist punk troupe has been tackling injustice one song at a time since their 2010 inception. Storming out the gate with teeth gnashing and spitting venom, War On Women’s self-titled 2015 debut crossbred riot grrrl ferocity with the nimble aggression of thrash. Hailed for their crystalline jabs at societal ills, War On Women prove that hardcore can incite change that ripples far beyond the parameters of the stage.
With hundreds of shows and years of activism behind them, Capture The Flag finds War On Women more dogged than ever. The band’s sophomore effort delves into injustices at both the macro and micro levels. Religious subjugation, gun violence, armchair activists, gender orgasm gap, female genital mutilation, the fetishization of motherhood, and toxic relationships—no breed of oppression defies War On Women’s purview. Recorded with J Robbins in Magpie Cage Recording Studio, Capture The Flag finds the band in their sonic wheelhouse, wedged somewhere between rebellious and rousing.
War On Women are neither a crew of young bucks nor a contagion of seasoned legends. They don’t fit neatly into metalloid machismo or hulking hardcore tropes. They have nothing to prove, and there’s nothing more delightfully dangerous than that.
