"We were definitely out of control on our first tour, Ozzfest 2001," Mr. Banks admits. "It wasn't enough to just play our music; we also had to fire shotguns on stage and throw pigheads at the crowd. Chalk it up to a desperate bid for attention." The Head Charge rap sheet - which also includes getting into bloody brawls with their fans, smashing equipment they couldn't afford to replace, reacquainting themselves with hard drugs and occasionally being locked up by the enraged fuzz - has served to obscure the fact that these free spirits play the shit out of their instruments and make brutally powerful music of uncommon distinction.
But this distorted (though hardly inaccurate) perception of the band will likely change with the release of The Feeding, a seething mass of avant metal, nightmare grindcore and moshpit rock that alternates between pummeling ferocity and passages of all-out grandeur. It's a stunning display of primally extreme music that's guaranteed to scare the hell out of your parents.
The album had its genesis during the limbo in which AHC found themselves after touring intensively behind their acclaimed 2001 debut, The War of Art, two years of prolonged exile from the road and ongoing internal tumult that found several band members in a virtual death match with their personal demons. Three guys in the band jumped into the chemical deep end and two of them went back to rehab, guitarist Bryan Ottoson ruefully recounts. "It got so bad I was nearly checked into a psychiatric unit for suicidal behavior."
Inevitably, their struggles begat rage, and that could've paralyzed them. But what sets Head Charge apart is an almost alchemical ability to transform their rage - at the world, each other and (perhaps most of all) themselves - into dark art. Hence, the worse their situation got, the more inspired they became, as singer Cock and bassist/guitarist Mr. Banks - now collaborating with Ottoson and keyboard manipulator Justin Fowler - stirred up a cauldron of new songs and brought them to seething life with drummer Christopher Emery. While the band's old label turned a deaf ear to their bold sonic forays, emerging producer Greg Fidelman, who'd engineered the Rick Rubin-produced first album, embraced the band's new material. The band managed to get out of their deal, and sign with Nitrus/DRT. "Rick Rubin was gracious enough to let us leave American Recordings without hassle. It could have been a litigious nightmare" adds Mr. Banks.
With Fidelman at the helm, Head Charge spent four months on the album, and it evidences an unlikely, previously dormant self-discipline. Tellingly, whereas the sprawling The War of Art ran well over an hour, as if they could barely control their wild-eyed impulses, The Feeding clocks in at a dense 41 minutes, the compression serving to intensify their fury. The opener and first single "Loyalty" sets the record's brutal tone, as Cock spews recriminations with frightful conviction while also revealing a scarred humanity in his natural voice, a captivating tenor that sounds like the troubled emanations of some fallen angel. "Dirty" would be an infectious, balls-out rocker were it not for Cock's Satanic howling, which transforms it into the soundtrack to an exorcism. "Walk Away" delivers a hyper-melodic, gloriously anthemic chorus, then proceeds to hack it to pieces in characteristically deranged fashion. Easy listening this ain't. And yet the closing "To Be Me" achieves something close to serenity, like the eerie calm after a thunderstorm - or a nuclear holocaust. "It's almost hopeful" Mr. Banks acknowledges, sounding like he can hardly believe it himself.
There's a line in "Walk Away" that perfectly encapsulates this tormented but inspired band: "We're dirty and hungry and bitter and tired and broke and bruised and battered," Cock shrieks in agony and defiance, adding, with all due irony, "so happy." Although Cock is the band's primary lyricist, it was Mr. Banks who came up with the words (he admits, quite unnecessarily, that he was in a bad state at the time). Mr. Banks recited the line his partner, who knew right away that it would drop right into the hole he was looking to fill in the song's crucial bridge section. "For a while," Mr. Banks says, "that's what we wanted to call the album - with no spaces between the words. It just says it all."
Also in the cosmic coincidence department is the filigreed, intertwined guitar figure that opens and closes the boldly provocative "Ridiculed," The Feeding's roiling centerpiece. The part is actually two guitars, and the parts were conjured up simultaneously by Ottoson and Cock - in two separate parts of the studio, out of hearing of each other. At the same moment, each of them entered the main room eager to play their new creations to the other band members and Fidelman. Only then did everyone realize that the two parts magically interlocked. Divine intervention. With this crew, that's highly unlikely - unless God has a truly twisted sense of humor (and with AHC there's plenty of circumstantial evidence to support that hypothesis).
Mr. Banks describes his band's dynamic as "a constant battle between Order and Chaos," and that's an apt description of the corrosive yet savagely beautiful sonic onslaught AHC delivers on The Feeding. In the end, Order prevails - if just barely - which is a good thing for American Head Charge and their ever-growing legion of fans. If Chaos had come out on top, this dangerously self-destructive but supremely talented band would've surely imploded, leaving nothing but wrecked gear, lost souls and mangled body parts. Instead, with all their limbs still attached and pulsing with the endorphins of catharsis, AHC will spend 2005 on the road - and this time, hopefully, not the road to perdition.
Bryan Ottoson passed away on April 19th, 2005 in his sleep on the band's tour bus while supporting Mudvayne. Many reports concluded it to be the result of an accidental prescription drug overdose. After being diagnosed with a severe case of strep throat, he was prescribed penicillin and an unknown pain killer. He, unknowingly, developed pneumonia and the strep throat got worse. He was found in his bunk after members of the band attempted to wake him before a performance.
Also, Christopher Emery was fired from American Head Charge onstage on the 11th of February 2006. So who is to say that Chaos isn't prevailing in the long run?
On April 3rd, 2007 American Head Charge will release a CD/DVD combo titled "Can't Stop The Machine". The DVD will feature a complete retrospective of the bands career from the early days signing to Rick Rubin's American recordings, interviews with all band member, performing live on Ozzfest 2001, worldwide tours with Slipknot, Mudvayne, Static-X, and more.
Also a look behind the scene at making both "The War of Art" and "The Feeding" Albums. It will also include all of the bands videos and a special tribute to late guitarist Bryan Daniel Ottoson. The CD will feature live recordings, remixes, and other unreleased material.
Unfortunately, due to lead singer Cameron Heacock's “inability to continue on a musical career path,” the band disbanded August 11th, 2009.
In June 2011 There were tweets on bassist Chad Hanks' twitter regarding American Head Charge reforming with a new drummer. Hanks also stated that there is a new Facebook page called American Head Charge (Official).
Desertion
American Head Charge Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You make it sound so fucking pure
I'll bring you down and make you scream
Take in what you once thought was hate
And now I want to make it right
And you can't take that away from me
Strive to make you cower like a pig
Sit and squirm in your own stink
Gone back to the way it never worked
Did you want me to mistreat you
Did you want me to pretend
The lyrics of American Head Charge's song "Desertion" are tumultuous and disturbing. The song, in general, is a statement about power dynamics in relationships, where one partner wants to impose their authority, and the other person willingly submits to it. The first line, "Hey, I want your skin to get me off," presents the idea that the singer gets pleasure from dominating their partner sexually. The line "You make it sound so fucking pure" points to the paradox that the antagonist feels when they realize their perverted desires are not conventional.
As the song continues, these sentiments grow more violent, with lines like "Strive to make you cower like a pig, sit and squirm in your own stink." These words are meant to invoke a sense of disgust and dehumanization in the listener's mind. The phrase "you have been the sickest of them all" is possibly the most brutal line in the song, profoundly affecting the other person's psyche.
It is possible that the person speaking is speaking figuratively or metaphorically, but what is not clear is the basis of their desires. Is it an outlet for anger, a form of punishment, a way to take out frustrations on someone else? The song carefully blurs lines between sexual desire and control in a relationship, which makes the song all the more provocative and thought-provoking.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey I want your skin to get me off
I am sexually aroused by the thought of having your skin in my possession and I want to act on this desire.
You make it sound so fucking pure
You are trying to convince me that what we're doing is pure and good, despite its twisted nature.
I'll bring you down and make you scream
I will dominate and hurt you, and take pleasure in your pain and suffering.
Take in what you once thought was hate
I will force you to reevaluate your previous negative feelings towards me and turn them into pleasure.
And now I want to make it right
I believe that our twisted desires and actions are right and should be fulfilled.
And you can't take that away from me
I am possessive of my desire to dominate and hurt you, and will not let anyone take that away from me.
Strive to make you cower like a pig
My goal is to make you feel small and helpless, like an animal being hunted by a predator.
Sit and squirm in your own stink
I enjoy seeing you uncomfortable and disgusted with yourself and your situation.
You have been the sickest of them all
You are just as twisted and sick as I am, if not more so.
Gone back to the way it never worked
We have returned to our unhealthy, abusive relationship, despite knowing it only leads to pain and misery.
Did you want me to mistreat you
I suspect that you want me to be abusive and cruel towards you, and I will use this as an excuse to justify my actions.
Did you want me to pretend
You want me to pretend that our actions are okay and morally acceptable, even though they are clearly not.
Contributed by Elijah L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.