Release the pressure, why? Headcharger celebrates its twentieth birthday with vigor, like stirring the embers of a fire ready to blaze anew. Three years after *Rise from the Ashes*, an album celebrating the strong return of a band that never shifted into second gear and is happy to welcome two new members ready to fight, the time has come for *Sway*, the eighth discographic slap delivered by the Norman combo.
An album that exudes both urgency and a desire to battle, on which Sébastien Pierre’s voice reconnects with its hoarse and raw side, and which is the result of an even more thorough collective effort than its predecessor. Antoine Cadot (drums) and David Vallée (guitar and second vocals) this time had the opportunity to participate in the composition process from the beginning, alongside David Rocha (guitar) and Romain Neveu (bass). After seven albums that successfully revisited hard rock, hardcore, stoner, and the best of 90s indie rock, Headcharger fully embraces a status that has challenged many label-stickers: too metal for rockers, too rock for metalheads. So what? That's also what makes this band so unique.
Where *Rise from the Ashes* sometimes reminded us of the sound of the nineties and Foo Fighters, *Sway* evokes the rawer energy of a Cave In or Poison the Well. While melody is still present, the band seems to have rediscovered the taste for screaming its anger when it comes to tackling more tense subjects, with an audacious success that defies categorization.