American Heritage Enlist ‘Chicago Metal Staple’ for ‘Sickening Rebellion’ — Song Premiere

Chicago's American Heritage have gone through many changes over the span of the band's 14-year career so far, beginning as an instrumental outfit. The band soon became purveyors of sludge that collided with head-spinning mathematical structures. But the band's forthcoming album, 'Sedentary,' not only scales the sound down to a raw form -- giving up length for quick bangers -- but the task of traveling over 700 miles to Atlanta to write with drummer Mike Duffy proved to define the album.

"I think the record being so straightforward is a product of the situation we're in where we can't practice that often," guitarist Scott Shellhamer told Noisecreep. Spending a week in the South, the trio would "drink on a boat and light fireworks, and then try and write some s--- while we're there."

Listen to 'Sickening Rebellion'

'Sickening Rebellion' captures this entire feeling -- even with guest vocals. Orginally the plan was

for the smoked out riffs to be accompanied by a vocalist singing only in Swedish, but due to issues with the files being transferred (an issue that even changed Mastodon axeman Bill Kelliher's contributions to a later track), the bassist for the track, Rick Leech, stepped up to scream.

"He's a Chicago metal staple," Shellhamer laughed explaining the former member of the defunct Lone Wolf and Cub. "He's the dude you see at shows with the Mercyful Fate patch on his jacket."

But despite all the trouble that has come from the shuffle of making sure to write together in the same room, the fledging time to do so forced the band to change gears. "One thing I think that is positive about the situation is we can focus on the songs a bit more. When we were practicing two or three times a week we would unfinish s--- a lot and over think stuff and try to overcomplicate things for no reason. That was cool then but now it's about trying to write a decent song not a bunch of decent parts."