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Mt. St. Helens

MT. ST. HELENS were a Cincinnati metal band from approximately January 1990-April 1991 that combined the NWOBHM sound (SAMSON, UFO, DIAMOND HEAD) with early METALLICA type thrash. The band performed mostly around Cincinnati, OH (with an occasional gig up in Columbus, OH) and produced one official 4-song demo, titled *Something From Beyond*.

*SOMETHING FROM BEYOND*

• 1. The Tour (Bennett/Lee)
• 2. In Like Flynt (Beitler/Lee)
• 3. Affairs of State (Bennett/Lee)
• 4. Something from Beyond (Lee)
• ©1991 Mt. St. Helens
• John Dugan-Lead Vocals, Chris Lee-Lead Guitar/Back Vocals, Dan Bennett-Bass Guitar, Scott 'Robotus' Gueterman-Drums
• -------------------
• Music recorded at 'The Dungeon'
• Vocals recorded at Vic's Studio
• Produced by Vic Strom and Mt. St. Helens
• Mixed by Chris Lee
• Cover art by Chris Rosenthal

BAND MEMBERS

• PHASE 1: Todd Clarke-Lead Vocals, Chris Lee-Lead Guitar/Back Vocals, Dan Bennett-Bass Guitar, Rich Wasson-Drums
• PHASE 2: Todd Clarke-Lead Vocals, Chris Lee-Lead Guitar/Back Vocals, Dan Bennett-Bass Guitar, Scott 'Robotus' Gueterman-Drums
• PHASE 3: Chris Lee-Lead Vocals/Lead Guitar, Dan Bennett-Bass Guitar, Scott 'Robotus' Gueterman-Drums/Back Vocals
• PHASE 4: John Dugan-Lead Vocals, Chris Lee-Lead Guitar/Back Vocals, Dan Bennett-Bass Guitar,Scott 'Robotus' Gueterman-Drums/Back Vocals
• ***********************************
• WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
• -----------------------------------
• TODD CLARKE-???
• CHRIS LEE-Playing Lead Guitar in 16 Piece Bucket (www.angelfire.com/punk/16piecebucket)
• DAN BENNETT-Writing songs at home
• RICH WASSON-Lead Singer for 16 Piece Bucket
• SCOTT 'ROBOTUS' GEUTERMAN-???
• JOHN DUGAN-Passed Away in 1994-R.I.P.

REVIEWS

• *From the city of Cincinnati, Ohio comes the volcanic sounds of Mt. St. Helens (funny, I thought they'd by from Washington...), a four-piece hybrid of commercial rock and churning metallic guitars that manage to avoid any immediate comparisons. The guitar work of Chris Lee ranges from scores of 70s NWOBHM bands to a slightly thrashier attack-both, for instance, can be heard on the leadoff cut 'The Tour'. The other main component in Mt. St. Heles' sound is John Dugan, whose street-smart vocals have some emotional impact in his lower range, but which tend to break apart into an annoying wail when he attempts to scale the octave ladder. One thing Dugan does give them is a sense of commercial accessibility, which the band would otherwise lack. 'Affairs of State', for instance, plays out like a metallic Violent Femmes tune, whereas some balanced melodies and riffing make 'Something from Beyond' a memorable track. The only remaining track ('In Like Flynt') starts off promising enough but breaks down halfway through somy tinny screams from Dugan. The backing band (which also includes bassist Dan Bennett and drummer Scott Geuterman) are solid, although every attempt at backing vocals sounds completely mundane, something that does not befit Mt. St. Helens well.*-Ula Gehret/Comedy of Errors Fanzine Issue #4
• *The energy here is certainly undeniable, but Mt. St. Helens tend to fall back far too often on some standard 'crunch crunch' metal techniques that do obviously nothing to distinguish them from any others. Would have liked to hear more of Chris Lee's soloing-open it up abit.*-Gajoob Magazine issue #7
• *From Cincinnati Ohio comes this four piece heavy metal band. I am impressed with Chris Lee's guitar work here. The riffs are quite catchy, influences coming from early heavy metal to classic rock to Metallica. At some point the music gets pretty heavy, then it changes back to a melodic groove, it's great. The one thing they could do to improve is to add another guitarist, that would really help. Also, the production could be better. But other than that, this is an impressive demo.* Subterranean Voice issue #7
• *Yeah, yeah! This USA-based metal quartet delivers four quite cool songs on this demo. The band reminds me alot of the old (American) SST band Overkill. It is pumping down-to-earth thrash rock, with nothing new to add to the history of music really, but afterall worth listening to. I like the concept of this band because they don't overdrive. They play what they can, what they want, and what they like. 3 facts that should be the case with most bands but often aren't.*-Progress Playtip: 'Affairs of State'- Progress Tattoo issue #2
• *This should have been called 'The Jam Box Blues' because it sounds like it was recorded through a jam boz and it gave me the blues! If The Ramones played thrash this is how it would sound. If the quality wasn't so poor I think this would be a better album, but it's not.* Rating 4/10-River City Music News April 4, 1991 issue.