Helms Alee Announce Sargent House Debut 'Sleepwalking Sailors,' Premiere New Track

BY Gregory AdamsPublished Nov 26, 2013

Two years after Seattle post-metal adventurists Helms Alee issued their Weatherhead LP through Hydra Head, the band have announced their next set, Sleepwalking Sailors, which will arrive early in 2014 through new label home Sargent House.

The 11-song outing hits stores February 11, and a press release notes that the group's third album offers up a "unique amalgam of metal, art rock, pop and punk," with touchstones including everything from Soundgarden to Gang of Four.

Guitarist/vocalist Ben Verellen explained in a statement that the songs took shape over the course of three and a half years before being tracked with engineer Chris Common (These Arms Are Snakes, Pelican, Chelsea Wolfe) in Seattle. The band had crowdsourced funds to begin the recording sessions, laid directly to tape instead of Pro Tools, before being signed to Sargent House.

Though the release date is a few months off, the album's "Tumescence," driven by muck-dripping sludge riffs and a mix of throaty cries from Verellen and melodious vocals from bassist/vocalist Dana James and drummer/vocalist Hozoji Matheson-Margullis, can be heard down below.

Sleepwalking Sailors:

1. Pleasure Center
2. Tumescence 
3. Pinniped
4. 4 Dangling Modifiers
5. Heavy Worm Burden
6. Crystal Gale
7. New West
8. Fetus Carcass
9. Slow Beef V
10. Animatronic
11. Dodge The Lightning

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