Try to imagine… you’re in a big chase, the police is everywhere and you can hear the sirens getting closer each second. You follow your instincts and have never been so close to yourself. This is what you get when you catch the feeling of American Head Charge’s debut album “The Art of War”. In my humble opinion a great, refreshing and unique album that might become huge if it has the opportunity to expose itself. Which is never easy when it comes to metal in our little wet country. Anyway, main men behind this band are Chad Hanks (guitar) and Martin Cock (vocals), both using this band as their true and only way of therapy. To put it in their own words : “If we weren’t doing this, we’d be dead”. So as you might expect this CD isn’t filled with cheesy love songs or useless words about being happy and that kind of shit. This is all about the raging instinct to survive to raise yourself out of your personal hell. Together with David Rogers (guitar), Christopher Emery (drums), Wayne Kile (guitar), Aaren Zilch (noises) and Justin Fowler (keyboards) they formed a well trained army to start and win this “War of Art”.

The sound they use for this is best described as the old Faith No More style meets NIN in company of Pantera. Add some Clawfinger to this and you made yourself a very strong and invincible weapon which is highly unpredictable. If you listen to songs like “Seamless”, “Pushing the Envelope” and “Reach and Touch” you discover a pretty straight forward sound. While “Self”, “Shutdown” and “Breathe in, Breathe out” have a more ‘against the grain’-feeling. In “Effigy” you hear the gloomy industrial influences very clearly, directly followed by “Americunt Evolving into useless Psyshic Garbage” which is almost speed metal. Just to show you the enormous diversity of this album! If you give an album 9 out of 10 you it’s normal to conclude that I like every song at this album, but like always there always the favourites ones. For me those are “Song for the suspect”, “Never get caught”, “Seamless”,” Breathe in, breathe out” and “All wrapped up”. So now you know… I’m caught! Only this time not by the police but by American Head Charge…