Kingcrimsonprog Back in the good old days of Nu Metal, one of the heavier and more credible bands, without the Hip Hop moments, sexually aggressive lyrics and overly simplistic music, was American Headcharge. Influenced by the likes of Ministry and Marilyn Manson, but not very derivative, they carved out a unique path on their two sublime studio albums, The War Of Art and The Feeding. Literally one of my favourite songs by anyone ever is their 2005 banger of a single, ‘Loyalty.’

I have very fond memories of catching them at the Irish Ozzfest in the early ’00s, even though I wasn’t a massive fan at the time and they were more my brother’s thing back then. I saw them again about a decade later when I went to see Soil when I was in Uni. (Memorable as singer Martin Haycock kept holding onto the building’s pipes in a very distracting way that made him look like a heavy metal plumber.)

I was quite impressed with their first single from their reunion, 2013’s ‘Sugars Of Someday’ which while not very heavy was still catchy and memorable. You can imagine then, with nostalgia and hype, how excited I would be for their proper reunion album. 11 years after their last one.

Unfortunately, Tango Umbrella is not exactly a breathtaking life-changing masterpiece, kicking down the doors of Heavy Metal and earning the band the respect and audience that they would deserve based on the quality of their 2001-200 period. Now, I am loathe to mug-off a band that have written one of my all time favourite ever songs, and you can probably notice from most of my reviews I’m reluctant to post a bad review of anyone at all most of the time, definitely coming from the ‘if you can’t say anything nice’ school of thinking. However, this album didn’t live up to my wide-eyed expectations.

Don’t get me wrong. It doesn’t suck. Its not bad. Its just that, like Bay Area Thrash legends Forbiden‘s comeback album Omega Wave; its more of an OK album that shows great potential for what can come next, rather than an absolute barnstormer in and of itself. On first listen it comes across as functional but nothing special. Admittedly, it gets better the more you listen to it and it has grown on me a lot since I first got it, but it still doesn’t sit tall beside the older material. It doesn’t even hold up that much as a great album in and of itself, being a bit repetitive and overlong.

There are some great moments here however, such as the depressing but majestic ballad ‘A King Among Men.’ There’s also several decent tunes, like the opener ‘Let All The World Believe’ and the noteworthy ‘Perfectionist’ and ‘Suffer Elegantly.’

The problem is, it isn’t all very memorable, some of it is good but some of it isn’t quite up to the same standard. Also; on the whole… It isn’t very aggressive, it isn’t very biting and it doesn’t really make you want to move. Their debut had songs like ‘Americunt’ that could strip the paint off your walls. This is all a bit more mid paced and tame. I imagine it was quite a cathartic album for the band, but it isn’t necessarily very fun for the listener. It is by no means bad, but is definitely not their strongest record either and I can’t see it winning over very many new fans.

It is not so much for-fans-only as, if you want to support AHC and keep them going, and get to have a few more songs from them along the way, then don’t avoid it. It feels more like an excuse to keep going rather than a career defining artist statement. I’d advise you buy it, but only so they don’t break up before making the next one which’ll probably be better. If you aren’t a fan yet however, start earlier. You wouldn’t get Hollyweird as your first Poison album or Generation Swine as your first Motley Crue album and this is the same kind of thing for the next generation of once popular now maligned metal subgenres.

Kingcrimsonprog American Head Charge are a much overlooked and underrated band, who never fully got as big as it seemed they were supposed to, and never lived up to their full potential. If you are a fan of the heavier and more tasteful bands to arise during the Nu Metal era, then American Head Charge are definitely a band you should investigate.

Their second album `The Feeding,' came out in 2005, four years after their debut album `The War Of Art,' and featured the tracks `Loyalty,' and `Cowards,' both of which had music videos at the time.

While The Feeding could not fully live up to its predecessor in terms of power, impact and memorable songwriting; it did surpass it in other areas such as clarity, focus and was much more succinct than The War Of Art, as well as having a better production job.

Standout tracks include the astounding single `Loyalty,' which is one of the band's greatest moments, as well as `Pledge Allegiance,' `Dirty,' and `Take What I've Taken,' all of which are fine examples of the band's industrial tinged mixture of ferocity and melody.

On The Feeding, the band's influences were less audibly on their sleeves, and you can't so much pick out individual bits that sound like Ministry, early Deftones or whoever, the band have more thoroughly developed their own style and refined the formula they started years before.

While `The Feeding,' may have come a little too late at the tale end of a dying scene, it is still a superb album to listen to that on its own merits deserves to be thought of more favourably than just as the final album from a band that missed its window.

If you like American Head Charge, pick up a copy without hesitation, the album is a real grower. Now with the band finally reunited and creating new music, this is an excellent and overlooked record to revisit.

Kingcrimsonprog American Headcharge’s debut album The War Of Art is a much-underrated release from 2001, at the height of the oversaturated Nu Metal scene. The band gained some publicity when Slipknot’s Shawn Crahan remixed their single ‘Just So You Know,’ but never broke as big as they initially seemed to be destined for, and eventually collapsed.

Their style draws influence from artists like Ministry, Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson as well as touches of early Korn and Deftones beside their normal heavier metal influences. These influences can be heard in the actual songwriting and structuring as well as just in the use of samples and keyboards. For the most part, this is one of the heavier albums to come out during the Nu Metal era and still sounds good to this day.

Singer Cameron ‘Martin Cox’ Heacock has a superb voice and vocal range, handling harsh and melodic vocals equally well. The band are all competent musicians who deliver fun and memorable riffs and simple pounding drumbeats from a former Keyboardist who turned-drummer quickly in the wake of a line up change.

The album is full of great memorable songs, with very few weak moments. If you were deliberately looking for flaws it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that they are a little derivative at times and that the album is perhaps overlong. As a whole though, this is a solid collection of great turn of the century metal songs.

Standout tracks include ‘Americ*nt Evolving Into Useless Psychic Garbage,” which evokes some of the feeling of Irresponsible Hate Anthem as well as “Never Get Caught,” “Seamless,” and “A Violent Reaction” all of which are great examples of the album’s overall sound.

In summary, The War Of Art is a fantastic album that still holds up remarkably well today. It is sort of a shame the band never got any bigger because then this record would likely be hailed as the classic it seems like.