Aftertaste by Helmet

Aftertaste, Helmet's fourth album, came out on Interscope in 1997 with Dave Sardy producing, and it's the New York band stripping back down to fighting weight. Guitarist Rob Echeverria had gone off to join Biohazard after Betty, so Page Hamilton handled every guitar part himself, and the band cut the record as a trio with John Stanier on drums and Henry Bogdan on bass.

Where Betty wandered down jazzy, experimental side streets, Aftertaste heads straight back to the old Helmet blueprint: riffs clamped down like a vise, Stanier hitting with jackhammer precision, and Hamilton barking over the top. "Like I Care" is the sound in miniature, all clenched-jaw, stop-start crunch. Chris Traynor, once of Orange 9mm, came aboard for the tour. Critics were split and sales were thin, and it proved the last album with that rhythm section before the band broke up in 1998.

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