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It may not be talked about as readily as Master Of Puppets or Number Of The Beast, but for those of a certain generation, Helmet’s 1992 masterpiece Meantime is a genuinely perfect record.

The list of bands present here are a testament to its influence, and most, the likes of KEN Mode and Fuck The Facts, are hugely well respected underground heroes.

That being said, not many of them can hold a candle to the originals. Meek Is Murder bring punk’n’roll pace to Better and Rosetta’s doomy, psychedelic reimagining of I Know (one of the non-Meantime bonus tracks) works surprisingly well. But, ultimately, hearing I Am Become Death faithfully retread the steps of classic opener In The Meantime, with a bit more feedback and screaming added, just makes you want to go and binge on Page Hamilton and co’s stellar back catalogue. As a doffing of the cap to a superb band Meantime (Redux) should be applauded, but if you’ve never heard Helmet before then rectify that first right now.

Since blagging his way onto the Hammer team a decade ago, Stephen has written countless features and reviews for the magazine, usually specialising in punk, hardcore and 90s metal, and still holds out the faint hope of one day getting his beloved U2 into the pages of the mag. He also regularly spouts his opinions on the Metal Hammer Podcast.