American Heritage

Though their odd choice of moniker may impede easy searching — try Googling their name and you’ll get everything but the band — Chicago’s American Heritage (yep, they dropped the umlaut) still turn heads with their ransacked riffs and melodies that teeter on the edge of insanity. Recently, however, they haven’t received a fair shake with the Mastodon sound-alike tag; yes, there is a definite sonic comparison to be made, but these Americans behave differently amid their own swirling chaos. One would hope that they make daily libations to Coalesce and Mastodon, because opening tracks "Brootal: Axxes of Evil” and "Toilet Paper and Leotards” are a near-perfect melding of those two bands, minus the latter’s prog-ish tendencies. "Spina Bifida” (a re-recording of same from 2004’s Bipolar) is now more pissed-off and dunked in harsh white noise, like Desire For Agony-era Zeni Geva. "Peckerwood” is punk-y death metal and "Way to Go Cowboy” ploughs forward like Harkonen but slows down halfway through with lingering yet suffocating Keelhaul-esque chords. "Piss Engine” is unrelenting destruction that provides the soundtrack for the building demolitionists who’re responsible for the album cover art. For fans who thought Mastodon sold out with last year’s Blood Mountain, try Millenarian on for size and you’ll see why American Heritage completely warrant their clever web address.