1. A straight edge hardcore band
2. A hip-hop project
3. A South Afr… Read Full Bio ↴1. A straight edge hardcore band
2. A hip-hop project
3. A South African metal band, later renamed as Conscript.

1. Chokehold is a vegan straight edge hardcore band hailing from Hamilton, Ontario in Canada. They first formed in 1990, releasing the "More Than Ever" demo tape in 1991. This was quickly followed in 1992 by a split EP with Crisis of Faith and the Life Goes On EP that same year. The band was soon renowned as one of the heaviest in hardcore, drawing ire from some purists for incorporating metal riffage into their sound. Their rise in popularity paralleled that of other vegan straight edge bands such as Earth Crisis and hardline bands like Vegan Reich and Raid. While bands that adhered to Hardline were totally opposed to abortion, Chokehold was vehemently pro-choice. While Chokehold were atheists and radicals with a strongly anarchist streak to their politics, many of the hardline bands were by contrast conservative (expressing belief in a higher power, homophobia, support for the death penalty and prisons and other conservative views).
In 1993 Chokehold released the Prison of Hope LP through American label Conquer the World Records (CTW). They released their next record, 1994's Instilled EP, on Philadelphia, PA's Bloodlink Records. This EP featured some of their most powerful and political material to date, notably the anti-religious song "Anchor", the anti-homophobia song "Mindset", and "Burning Bridges", with its hard-hitting lyrics: "The corporations are aware where the average person is not, violence against one meat eater is not going to liberate a million animals. You must take action against those who run the industry, not the ones lied to. And to take them down we must use as much fucking violence as they do. Animal liberation, Earth liberation, Human liberation, will only come through education."
They followed this in the next year with their second LP, Content With Dying. This album contained by far their most controversial song yet: "Not a Solution" was possibly the most militantly pro-choice hardcore song since Born Against's "Mary and Child". The liner notes to the song state, "to all the militant pro-lifers who couldn't spell 'life' let alone understand it, we salute you with a middle finger". The song is directed at those who identify as "pro-lifers", including many vegan straight edge bands at the time, most notably Abnegation. This song in particularly created a huge rift in the vegan straight edge scene. When Chokehold played a show with Abnegation that year, the two bands spent their sets screaming at each other, and they and their fans nearly came to blows. This refusal to back down in the face of significant opposition even within their own subculture typifies Chokehold's uncompromising stance in general.
They signed in 1996 to Germany's Mad Mob Records, who unbeknownst to them already had a bad reputation in the European hardcore scene. They recorded four new songs to be released as a split CD with Feeding the Fire, but after a European tour in 1996 the band decided to break up. They played their last show in March at the New Bedford Fest in Massachusetts. These four songs were released as a self-titled EP on Jawk Records the following year. Members went on to play in such bands as The Swarm, Brutal Knights, Left For Dead, Haymaker, Our War and Seventy-Eight Days.

2. Chokehold is a hip-hop project from Crestview, Florida featuring Anthony Davis(of death metal bands Gutf*cked, Swine Overlord, Exophagy, and Necrosectomy and metal-core band Your Last Memory). He released his first demo "Just The Tip" in 2014 and then his full length debut album "Living Nightmare" in 2015. He has also feautured on the Operation Cunt Destroyer song, "Cries of the Chronic Masturbator".
chokehold.bandcamp.com

3. Chokehold was formed by drummer Logan Kelso and guitarist Darryl Parkinson, former members of the Doom Metal band, Funeral, from Pretoria, South Africa. Parkinson and Kelso soon joined up with vocalist Alex Trapani and bassist Chris Watson, debuting in 2005. Hugo Pelzer, ex- from the band C4, later joined on lead guitar, firming up the already powerful sound adding new dual-guitar dynamics to the lineup. CHOKEHOLD started performing at various venues such as London Calling, Zeplins, Tempos as well as larger events like Motherfudd, Seasons Wither, and Grimfest. After the departure of Chris due to career opportunities in USA, and a name clash with other bands named CHOKEHOLD in the UK and USA, the band became Conscript.

On Fire
Chokehold Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Waving you flag like I should kneel down and pray
I don't give a fuck about your colour or nationality
You preach about power, you're white and you're pure
You're the kind of idiot your country prefers
Too ignorant and blind to see their lies
Through their corruption the truth they hide
Honour the flag, and nation of liars
Watch me show my hate as I light it on fire

Too blind to see I'm on fire

Too proud to see I'm on fire

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to "On Fire" by Chokehold are a biting indictment of nationalism and blind patriotism. The opening lines suggest that the singer has no interest in following the supposed dictates of his or her country, as waving a flag is seen as a gesture of supplication, something the singer has no interest in doing. The next line asserts the singer's lack of interest in concerns of race or nationality. The singer then goes on to criticize those who preach about power and the supposed virtues of their own race, suggesting that they are simply "idiots" that their country prefers.

The chorus of the song provides an even more direct statement of the singer's feelings. They suggest that those promoting a flag or nation are simply propagating lies and hiding the truth. The flag itself is seen as a symbol of this deception, leading the singer to light it on fire. Ironically, though the singer is less attached to national symbols than those he or she is criticizing, the singer is described as being "too blind" and "too proud" to realize the danger.

In many ways, the song can be seen as a protest against blind patriotism and nationalism, which glorify things that are not necessarily good for society as a whole, and which can serve as a mask for more insidious, negative tendencies.

Line by Line Meaning

Waving your flag like I should kneel down and pray
You signal your nationalism as if it were a religion, expecting my utmost respect and devotion.

I don't give a fuck about your color or nationality
I am indifferent to your skin color or country of origin since they do not define your character or worth.

You preach about power, you're white and you're pure
You use your perceived superiority based on your skin color and purity to advocate for oppressor's agenda and maintain the status quo.

You're the kind of idiot your country prefers
Your ignorance and blind loyalty to your country's propaganda make you the perfect government puppet.

Too ignorant and blind to see their lies
Your lack of knowledge and insight prevents you from recognizing the deceitful actions of those in power.

Through their corruption the truth they hide
The powerful use their corrupt ways to conceal the truth from the public and maintain their control over the masses.

Honour the flag, and nation of liars
You exalt your nation and its flag despite it being built on a foundation of dishonesty and deception.

Watch me show my hate as I light it on fire
I will express my anger towards the oppressive system and its symbols by setting the flag on fire.

Too blind to see I'm on fire
You are too preoccupied with upholding the oppressive system to realize that I am taking a stance against it.

Too proud to see I'm on fire
You are too blinded by your nationalistic pride to acknowledge that your country's flaws and injustices are causing people to rebel against it.

Contributed by Ryan J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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