"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).
Fiend
American Head Charge Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Somewhere far from here
I'm watching you
As you wave goodbye
I won't take
I won't weigh you down
Following suit
I can't get it out
Can't put it together
I should have known better
Than to turn into this
I can't believe
I've become removed
Tighten the line
And pull up hello
I will change
I won't weigh me down
Carving this space
Never count me out
I can't get it out
Can't put it together
I should have known better
Than to turn into this
Fiend
I say
Everything's how it ought to be
I say
Nothing should ever change
I say
I only know how I used to be
I say
I don't want a fucking thing to do with it
Fiend
The lyrics of American Head Charge's song "Fiend" capture a sense of detachment and self-awareness in the face of change. The singer longs to be somewhere "far from here," perhaps indicating a desire to escape a particular situation or circumstance. While the singer watches someone else "wave goodbye," they declare that they "won't weigh [them] down" and choose to "count [themselves] out." This suggests that the singer is recognizing that they may not be able to handle the situation or relationship at hand, and are choosing to remove themselves from it.
The singer then reflects on their own state of mind, acknowledging that they "can't get it out" and "can't put it together." This could refer to a sense of confusion or chaos within themselves, possibly brought on by the changes occurring around them. However, the singer also takes responsibility for their own actions, declaring that they "should have known better than to turn into this."
As the song progresses, the singer expresses a desire to change and avoid "weighing [themselves] down," while also asserting their own agency by declaring that others should "never count [them] out." The repetition of the word "fiend" throughout the song may indicate a feeling of addiction or obsession, emphasizing the difficult and ongoing struggle with change that the singer is facing.
Overall, American Head Charge's "Fiend" is a powerful exploration of the internal struggles that come with facing change and detachment in relationships. The lyrics capture a sense of confusion, longing, and self-awareness, ultimately emphasizing the singer's desire for agency and growth.
Line by Line Meaning
I want to be
I desire to move elsewhere
Somewhere far from here
Someplace distant from my current location
I'm watching you
Observing your actions
As you wave goodbye
While you bid farewell
I won't take
I refuse to accept
I won't weigh you down
I will not burden you
Following suit
Conforming to expectations
So just count me out
Exclude me from this situation
I can't get it out
I cannot remove it from my mind
Can't put it together
Unable to comprehend
I should have known better
I realize now that I made a mistake
Than to turn into this
Instead of becoming this type of person
I can't believe
I am shocked by
I've become removed
I am now disconnected
Tighten the line
Make the situation more restrictive
And pull up hello
Retrieve a positive outcome
I will change
I am committed to altering
I won't weigh me down
I refuse to burden myself
Carving this space
Creating a new area
Never count me out
Always include me in your future plans
Fiend
Title of the song, may refer to addiction or obsession
I say
My opinion is
Everything's how it ought to be
The current state of affairs is correct
Nothing should ever change
Stability is preferred over progress
I only know how I used to be
I am only familiar with my past self
I don't want a fucking thing to do with it
I have no interest in returning to the past
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Thomas Richards
One of my favourite AHC songs. Such an underrated band!!
River Sutcliffe
This whole record is so awesome, something about every song makes this perfect. RIP
Josh
A macabre masterpiece.
Brad Brown
Can't believe after so long it still has only 12 comments wake up true metal heads wake up!!!!!
Thomas Dall
Favourite band of all time. I started listening at 7 & I’m now 26.
M Gonzalez
This song needs to be more popular.
Simply Human
@Cory Drentlaw damn. That must have been awesome.
Simply Human
Like most of them.
El Patrón
Ya no sería underground
GamexFr34k
@Lachlan Crean Yes they are, Cameron Heacock the lead singer, use to work at Broadway pizza in Robbinsdale which is where i was born and raised, he was already long gone by the time i found out.