Primer: Helmet

1989 in New York City

Members: Page Hamilton (guitar, vocals), Dan Beeman (guitar), Kyle Stevenson (drums), Dave Case (touring bassist)

Sounds like: A very loud construction site; a rock yacht being tossed on the stormy seas; the carnival.

For fans of: Nirvana, White Zombie, Paw, Foo Fighters, Snapcase, AC/DC, Hüsker Dü, Fugazi

Latest release: Seeing Eye Dog, a hit-and-miss collection of super-crunchy, start-and-stop tunes that feels looser than Helmet fans are accustomed to.

Why you care: Because, for a while there, Helmet was the model of measured, mathy and smart hard rock (or hardcore or alt-metal...whatever you want to call this stuff) that did away with the usual testosterone of its genre. The band's formula—blue-collar, drop-D guitar chugging that moves in and out of phase with the popping drums—left room for bright, melodic moments, and frontman Page Hamilton used restraint in delivering his half-spoken, Zen-for-dummies lyrics. All of this came together on the band's three excellent early-'90s releases: Strap It On, Meantime and Betty. But by 1997 release Aftertaste, the band seemed to have grown tired of its old formulaic approach to hardcore and, in stretching out its sonic legs, stumbled considerably—though songs like "Renovation" and "It's Easy to Get Bored" hinted at a big, pretty side of Helmet that could have brought the band back to the fore. The band would go on to embrace its raunchy-sounding metal side instead, and Helmet's feedback-sick post-'90s output has found Hamilton trading his understated speak-sing for a gravelly bar-rock delivery that makes it all too easy to lump Helmet in with the uninspiring nu-metal pack.

SEE IT: Helmet plays Thursday, March 31, at the Roseland Theater. 7 pm. $18. All ages.

WWeek 2015