Things looked promising when Page Hamilton attempted to resurrect Helmet as a supergroup of sorts in 2004 with members of Anthrax and White Zombie, but the results were underwhelming. Of their comeback album Size Matters, the single "See You Dead" was the only real standout. The group's next effort, 2006's Monochrome, was an improvement, but it still failed to capture the magic of the Meantime/Betty golden years (1992-1994). They still might not be quite at that level yet, but Seeing Eye Dog is closer than they've been in a long, long time.

Hamilton's voice isn't what it once was, but at least he's trying. "LA Water" could be the catchiest song the band's written in over a decade. Even when he's singing in his "rough" voice, Hamilton manages to craft huge vocal hooks–the chorus of the title track, for example. Helmet is and always has been an extremely poppy band underneath all the distortion.

For the most part, this is classic Helmet, but there are a few curveballs. "And Your Bird Can Sing" sounds like it could be a lost Thin Lizzy B-side, and "Morphing" is a weird, ambient, experimental noise piece not a million miles away from the weird ambient, experimental noise pieces on Paint It Black's New Lexicon.

Every record Helmet has released since their "reunion" more than half a decade ago has been better than the last, and this is another step in the right direction. While maybe not the best introduction to the band, if you're already on the Helmet train, you'd do well to give Seeing Eye Dog a spin.