American Head Charge is a living representation of determination and complete fortitude. The band began when two founding members Chad Hanks and Cameron Heacock met in drug rehab. Shawn Crahan of Slipknot noticed the band in 2001 and brought them to the attention of Rick Rubin at American Recordings where they released the critically acclaimed album the War of Art. In 2002 the band came to Ireland when they played the Ozzfest. However soon after the band disappeared leaving fans in the dark. In 2005, AHC were back as a sextet, however with only three original members, they had a new smaller record label but they were clean and had a brand new album of fantastic and worthy songs. The band hit tragedy only a month later in April when guitarist Bryan Ottoson died of a drug complication midway through a tour with Mudvayne. Although it was a serious emotional setback for the band, they emerged again in June and played the infamous Download festival and an Irish date with Mudvayne. The band played Ireland in January and November of last year and has recently just released Cant Stop The Machine, DVD/CD pack to compliment their career until today.

The release itself was publicised as a DVD but as more details were released a bonus CD was announced to accompany it. The ten-track album consists of live songs, unreleased material and a remix. The first three tracks are all live recordings from songs of the War Of Art. Opener, All Wrapped Up, refers to what AHC always start their live set with and nearly creates the sentiment of a live AHC show but lacks the blood, sweat and tears actually experienced by being there. Seamless and A Violent Reaction, both essential foundations to the AHC live set, just don't convey the true passion they attain and leaves the live recording slightly hollow.

Downstream, a bonus on the British version of The Feeding, the band's second album, follows but its old news for anybody who's probably heard it before. Dirty and Take What I've Taken follow as the live recordings from The Feeding album which both obtain the same hollow feeling as the previous recordings. Dirty, a fast, high-octane track, loses its complete chaos without the visual evidence and Take What I've Taken, a slow draining track, misses the swaying that a gig would offer.

Vocally and musically all the recordings are perfect but the mastering of the tracks leave a lot to be desired and only really create some conviction when listened to wearing headphones and turned up to max volume. The first of the three unreleased tracks, When I Failed, starts off as a monotonous Alice In Chains-esque track going nowhere which would completely anger a fan and although it eventually picks up a heavier stride towards the end, it never makes the grade of album quality.

To Taste Acid starts off much the same as above but it kicks into a heavy metal groove that could be seen on the War Of Art but would have been regarded a lesser track on either album, however it sounds like it could have been off Korn's Life is Peachy or Follow The Leader. Last of the unreleased tracks, Stature, does have its highs but lacks the complexity that chosen album songs all exhibit however it works as a worthy extra on this album. The last track is a insignificant remix of one of the signature AHC songs, Just So You Know, by their label mates, Wired All Wrong. 7/10

Overall the album is definitely for the diehard AHC fan and where it has its highs it has just as many lows but as I said at the start the CD was the extra, the DVD was the main part and the DVD delivers the goods with interviews, live songs, videos, photo gallery and priceless footage of an amazing band. 9/10