Helmet – Meantime

Helmet’s Meantime is a groundbreaking slab of precision-crafted aggression that helped redefine the sound of heavy music in the early ’90s. With its tight, drop-D riffing, staccato rhythms, and Page Hamilton’s barked vocals, the album fused elements of metal, hardcore, and noise rock into a lean, muscular form that felt both cerebral and brutal. Produced by Steve Albini and released on Interscope in 1992, Meantime stands as a masterclass in controlled intensity—its riffs are jagged yet surgical, its grooves heavy yet disciplined.

The album’s unrelenting focus and stripped-down approach made it a blueprint for countless post-hardcore and alt-metal bands that followed. Tracks like “Unsung” and “In the Meantime” became anthems for a new generation of heavy music fans who wanted both power and precision. Helmet’s refusal to indulge in guitar solos or typical metal theatrics gave them a unique identity—cold, clinical, and utterly captivating. Over 30 years later, Meantime remains an essential listen for anyone seeking the perfect balance of force and finesse.

Reviews

"Meantime’s punishing but cerebral take on hard rock remains one of the decade’s most influential metal albums." – AllMusic

"Helmet gave metal a new sense of discipline and post-hardcore a new sense of weight." – Pitchfork

"With Meantime, Helmet helped invent a new kind of rock: brutal but brainy, simple but smart." – Rolling Stone

"An uncompromising and sonically tight record that laid the groundwork for countless bands in its wake." – Kerrang!

"Helmet’s Meantime is as taut and compelling today as it was in the ’90s—a milestone in alternative metal." – The Guardian