American Head Charge, the Minneapolis-based metal band, which had its genes… Read Full Bio ↴American Head Charge, the Minneapolis-based metal band, which had its genesis when Cameron Heacock and Chad Hanks crossed paths in a Minnesota rehab facility in 1997, has up to now been known primarily for the radically dysfunctional behavior of the band members.

"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).

Leave Me Alone
American Head Charge Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You
Always get exactly what you want
You
This is only my life that you taunt
Always giving me enough to keep me quiet
Only giving me enough to keep me at bay

Why don't you leave me alone?

I don't need you

This

Is the very thing that I disgust
Promise me again
And I hope your jaw fucking rusts
I did what you wanted didn't I?
So, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up

Why don't you leave me alone?
Always on the verge of something
Almost about to leave it all
I don't need you

Open your blessed wings
And wrap them around all your things
Keep yourself in the company of kings
Cause it's their hands' that bleed from the strings

No more

Overall Meaning

You know exactly what you want
You use my life, and then taunt
With minimal scraps to keep me subservient
It's barely enough, to keep my anger irrelevant

The singer starts off addressing someone, who always gets what they want. They use the singer's life to taunt, keeping them quiet with just enough to keep them at bay. The singer is clearly fed up with this, asking them to leave them alone. They don't need the other person in their life.

Next, the song talks about something that disgusts the singer. They've been promised things before, and they hope the other person's jaw rusts before they can make more promises. The singer laments that they've done everything the other person wanted, so they should just shut up.

The chorus returns, as the singer is on the verge of leaving everything behind. They don't need the other person, and want to be left alone. The next part seems to be addressing the other person directly, telling them to keep their possessions and surround themselves with powerful people. The final line is a striking one, saying that the kings' hands bleed from the strings. This could refer to the powerful manipulating strings like puppets, or even the pain and sacrifice that comes with power.

Line by Line Meaning

You
You always get whatever you demand

Always giving me enough to keep me quiet
You provide me with minimum resources to make me content

This is only my life that you taunt
You are just abusing my life

Only giving me enough to keep me at bay
You provide me with minimum resources to make me content

Why don't you leave me alone?
Why can't you just let me be?

I don't need you
I can manage on my own

This is the very thing that I disgust
I absolutely hate this about you

Promise me again, And I hope your jaw fucking rusts
You can make promises, but I don't trust you anymore

I did what you wanted didn't I?
I followed your wishes, didn't I?

So, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up
Stop bothering me

Always on the verge of something, Almost about to leave it all
I am always on the edge of giving up

Open your blessed wings, And wrap them around all your things
You should protect and keep your own belongings close

Keep yourself in the company of kings, Cause it's their hands' that bleed from the strings
Associate yourself with those in power since they have the real control

No more
I can't handle this anymore

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS

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