Math Metal Riff Masters American Heritage Go Out With A Bang And A Whimper

• Chris Eichenseer
• American Heritage in 2012

Formed in 1997 and for the past several years split between Chicago and Atlanta, metal smart-asses American Heritage released what seems likely to be their swan song, Prolapse, last week on French label Solar Flare Records. There was no fanfare, no release party—for all intents and purposes, they were already broken up. “After the recording of Prolapse,” say the press materials for the album, “core member Adam Norden left the band, and after eighteen years of abuse and racket, this move makes it foreseeable that this will be the final album from American Heritage.”

That cycling between burners and epics continues on Prolapse, and today’s 12 O’Clock Track, “Blackbird,” is clearly one of the former—though it’s dominated by an eccentric high-speed 5/8 meter that makes it feel like it’s running pell-mell with one leg shorter than the other.