Fans of American Head Charge’s debut ‘The War of Art’ have been waiting three years for this. The band have had a busy time evidently…battling drug addictions, difficult record labels, huge personal differences and an array of problems. So was it worth the wait you ask?
Opening track ‘Loyalty’ gets things off to a fast and furious start, rather than easing the listener in gently. This is one of the heaviest tracks on the album - the pounding riffs and catchy as hell chorus make it a fantastic opener. Luckily “The Feeding” still boasts their trademark guitar sound, and a superb mixture of clean and harsh metal vocals. The songs vary enough in structure to keep you interested; some favouring gentle verses and ear-splitting choruses (ie. Erratic), and others featuring chanty, aggressive verses and then beautiful melodic choruses. Much like its predecessor then, just with an added “grab”.
The Feeding, whilst being an impressive slice of emotional, angst-filled metal - certainly covers not an awful lot of new ground. Many of the songs here would not sound out of place on 2002’s ‘The War of Art’. In this respect, it may leave some fans disappointed that there has been no real change in direction or sound, apart from the more simplistic catchier vibe now apparent. It may leave others delighted however, that the band has stuck with what is good. After all - it works.
This album is also good at showing off singer Martin Cock’s (!) vocal talents - as he changes between harsh metal screams - clean vocals - and muttering, soulful melodies - all with minimum effort.
Über-highlight of the album has to be final track ‘To Be Me’. It's an anthemic, enchanting song - which manages to be genuinely emotional without being too clichéd. It has a great build up, fantastic climax and is a great, epic way to end the album. Shame then, that they destroy the effect entirely by jamming a lacklustre bonus track on the end.
Standout Tracks: To Be Me, Loyalty, Ridicule.
Overall Score: 7 /10
