Helms Alee - Noctiluca
1 - WHO ARE HELMS ALEE
They are a Seattle three piece comprised of Dana James on bass guitar, Hozoji Matheson-Margullis on the drums and Ben Verellen on guitars, with all three contributing vocals.
2 - DISCOGRAPHY
Night Terror (2008, Hydra Head)
Weatherhead (2011, Hydra Head)
Sleepwalking Sailors (2014, Sargent House)
Stillicide (2016, Sargent House)
Noctiluca (2019, Sargent House)
3 - WHAT DO THEY SOUND LIKE
Helms Alee are one of those increasingly rare but fantastic bands that can not be pigeon holed in any one sound or scene - Post Metal, Hardcore, Sludge, Noise Rock, Shoegaze and Pop Rock. They have an undertow of Melvins pulling them below the surface of bands such as The Pixies, Sonic Youth, Mastodon and Baroness. They are an alternative band that shift where the tide takes them, forever sailing with what I would call artistic integrity. When listening to this band, a band such as Giant Squid comes to mind, while not as experimental and sonically wild, they play in those same waters.
4 - NOCTILUCA
Ten tracks over forty one minutes is consistent for Helms and hits that sweet spot for this type of music. Noctiluca takes you on a journey through a myriad of conflicts. At the centre is this light or illuminating sense of hope; however there is also a dark underbelly and a tone of hopelessness to what is going on around us. The vocals on Noctiluca are packed with hooks, and really engaging especially when harmonised with Ben’s harsher tones. The definition of Noctiluca is a roughly spherical marine dinoflagellate which is strongly phosphorescent, especially when disturbed. When you look into the back catalogue, lyrical content and meanings behind a lot of their art, then the nautical themes play large - another thing that they share with Giant Squid. There are some interesting lyrics throughout the whole album such as “Pushing through rocks like roots, blending fruit brown and blue on opening track Interachnid or like Guts stuffed full of plastic morsels or inch back from the mend with intent to die waiting on Play Dead.
5 - KEY MOMENT
Third track Play Dead starts out with a Placebo ensue introduction, and for the first couple of minutes roars through some harsh vocals over some fuzzed out guitars and a throttling rhythm section, however at the 1:48 mark the track drops out into a glorious catchy vocal climaxing with the line: true friends don’t let friends play dead, for long. You get the feeling this is not a tongue in cheek moment.
6 - WEAKNESS
After a super strong start which I would extend to six tracks, the following four slightly dip in quality, which includes a Vines like moment on Pandemic, a virtual ballad. This is not a poor song by any means, but a slight weak period on an album that set the bar super high early on.
7 - FACT
Helms Alee is a nautical term aligned with the tacking of a sailboat. Guitarist and vocalist Ben Verellen is an electrical engineer who owns his own amplifier business, with bands such as Minus the Bear using his handmade gear.
8 - IN SUMMARY
The songwriting on Noctiluca is top notch and it is their best album since the Matt Bayles produced Weatherhead. The first six tacks take you on a wild ride that twists and turns with little to predict ,and while things dip slightly below 10/10 on the next few tracks, this is one album that maintains interest throughout and is a must for any fans of alternative rock and metal.
9 - CLIP