"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).
Shutdown )
American Head Charge Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
left on the killing floor for you
that smile as he still
itches for killing more of you
the taste as he still
catches me lasting to it
the recoil they still
dream of that lasting spit
shutdown in it
shut my eyes only once
brought me back up for nothing
yet it always seems like
I live in the shit
I make it bleed
I won't ever quit
I cause the need
lying in my bed
telling me your scared
of me when I'm god
of me when I'm dead
the temptation still
passses me lying for it only
false reminders still
drown myself trying for it only
reaching upwards still
squashes me under it
its only god still
seizing my final breath
are you
shutdown in it
shut my eyes only once
brought me back up for nothing
yet it always seems like
I'm drawn into it
I can't belong
such a perfect fit
I won't be wrong
holding on in vein
telling me your scared
of me when I'm god
of me when I'm dead
I live in the shit
I make it bleed
I won't ever quit
I cause the need
lying in my bed
telling me your scared
of me when I'm god
of me when I'm dead
love me when I'm god
love me when I'm dead
dead
I don't want to be shutdown
"Shutdown" by American Head Charge is a haunting song about someone who revels in their own destructive tendencies, to the point where they see themselves as a kind of deity, both feared and loved. The lyrics paint a picture of a person who feeds off of violence and chaos, who thrives in the discomfort of others, and who ultimately welcomes their own destruction.
The opening lines, "the trait that is still left on the killing floor for you, that smile as he still itches for killing more of you," suggest that there is something in the singer that is both violent and unquenchable, a "trait" that continues to exist even after all other options have been exhausted. The song goes on to describe the pleasure that this person takes in their own brutal actions, as well as the sense of power and control that comes with being the one who causes pain.
Even the chorus, which suggests that the singer doesn't want to be "shutdown," is tinged with a kind of sadomasochistic pleasure. The repetition of "shut my eyes only once, brought me back up for nothing, yet it always seems like I live in the shit" suggests that even though the singer knows that their behavior is destructive and ultimately self-defeating, they still derive some kind of pleasure from it, and can't imagine living any other way.
Overall, "Shutdown" is a disturbing portrait of a person who is addicted to their own darker impulses, to the point where they see them as something godlike and all-consuming.
Line by Line Meaning
the trait that is still
left on the killing floor for you
The characteristic that remains after causing violence and destruction, which is left on the ground for others to witness and bear the consequences of.
that smile as he still
itches for killing more of you
The expression that indicates the desire to harm and murder others, which still persists despite previous acts of violence.
the taste as he still
catches me lasting to it
The sensation that arises from participating in dangerous and destructive behavior, which one still craves and desires.
the recoil they still
dream of that lasting spit
The aversive reaction that others have to the aftermath of one's violent actions, which they still remember and are haunted by.
are you
shutdown in it
Asking if the listener is trapped and paralyzed by destructive behaviors and the aftermath.
shut my eyes only once
brought me back up for nothing
yet it always seems like
I live in the shit
The desire to escape from the consequences of destructive actions, but the reality of being stuck and unable to escape the negative consequences.
I make it bleed
I won't ever quit
I cause the need
Taking responsibility for one's actions and the effects of those actions on others, while recognizing the persistent desire to continue engaging in violent behavior.
lying in my bed
telling me your scared
of me when I'm god
of me when I'm dead
The fear that others have of the artist, even after death, due to the lasting consequences of their violent actions.
the temptation still
passses me lying for it only
The continuing allure of dangerous behavior, despite knowing its negative consequences.
false reminders still
drown myself trying for it only
Misleading signs that give the impression that engaging in destructive behavior will result in pleasure and satisfaction, despite knowing that is not true.
reaching upwards still
squashes me under it
its only god still
seizing my final breath
The realization that violent behavior leads to destruction and death, despite the persistent desire to continue engaging in it.
I can't belong
such a perfect fit
I won't be wrong
holding on in vein
telling me your scared
of me when I'm god
of me when I'm dead
Feeling alienated from society due to engaging in violent behavior, while simultaneously recognizing the harm caused to others and refusing to accept the label of being wrong or evil.
love me when I'm god
love me when I'm dead
dead
The desire for acceptance and love, even in the aftermath of destructive behavior and death.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@EldritchDWX
The chorus is sublime.
@Disambiguation144
Facts are Facts
@EldritchDWX
@@Disambiguation144 this is crazy, I was just thinking about this song this morning.
@NECROMETERproject
I hear the musical talent, but it's the expression of anger that keeps me listening.
@Pruane35Forever
this music is vicious , idnit
@NECROMETERproject
@@Pruane35Forever yes it is
@leoarredondo651
My fav every morning I put this song on.for like 3 yrs RIP chad I miss you bro
@mongoosetacticool6688
Such a brilliant album musically and produced by the legendary Rick Rubin.
I have an old ticket signed by the drummer and possibly the bass player.
"Never get caught" wrote one of them.
@arielsfish
Love that song
@ShinKenX1
awesome band.. loved this album !