American Head Charge
American Head Charge — Concert Photography by Wayne Dennon
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About American Head Charge
American Head Charge formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, born out of a chance encounter between vocalist Cameron Heacock and bassist Chad Hanks. Further credit has to be given to the writing unit of Cock and bassist Chad Hanks, who met in a rehab center, where they began to collaborate and essentially started the band. The band was active from 1996 to 2009 and again from 2011 to 2017, and became known for a sound blending nu metal, alternative metal, and industrial metal. Early on the group cycled through names such as Flux, Gestapo Pussy Ranch, and Warsaw Ghetto Pussy before settling on American Head Charge, dropping the earlier names to avoid legal trouble and to appeal to prospective labels. The band made its debut on the underground industrial metal scene with the 1999 independent self-released album Trepanation, featuring Heacock and Hanks joined by guitarist David Rogers, drummer Peter Harmon, and Christopher Emery on keyboards and samplers. The band's breakthrough came when influential producer Rick Rubin took notice and signed them to his American Recordings label. Rubin believed in the band enough to oversee production of their standout 2001 album "The War of Art," and his clout was hard to downplay given his work with artists like Slayer, System of a Down, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Released August 28, 2001 through American Recordings, The War of Art received positive reviews and debuted at number 118 on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Top Heatseekers chart, while also charting at number 90 on the UK Albums Chart. By 2015 the album had sold 250,000 copies worldwide, and in 2022 Metal Hammer ranked it as the 20th greatest nu metal album of all time. The lineup at that point included guitarist Bryan Ottoson, keyboardist Justin Fowler, and drummer Christopher Emery, and the band's notoriously chaotic live shows, including incidents at Ozzfest, only added to their reputation as one of the era's most volatile acts.
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