Singled Out: Chuggernaut's Stranglehold

08-27-2018

Chuggernaut just released their brand new album "Kodiak" and to celebrate we asked vocalist David Benites to tell us about the track "Stranglehold". Here is the story:

The band and I started on lyrics for this record even before I officially joined last July. Within our first handful of shows together the chemistry was really there, and we wanted to focus efforts on our collective new sound. I was in predominantly darker and more aggressive metal bands up until then. This was my first time to really write and perform outside my comfort zone, and with the energy and excitement of that pure rock and roll sound mixed with where my own roots are in metal music. I was super excited.

Dave Cohen (guitar) and I had endless writing sessions that summer; our ideas lyrically worked real well together. For the members of Chuggernaut and myself, we had all been through a pretty rough year in many aspects. Despite feelings of negativity or defeat, moving forward with this band we all felt a strong sense of empowerment in what we were now capable of as a unit. "Stranglehold" is about having that shared experience, embracing hardship and past decisions made (both good and bad), and moving up and onward with new found strength together. It's never easy going after what you want most. This song is really about carving your own path and overcoming those obstacles to make your own way in the world.

A few months later, Cohen came into our practice space with the biggest grin on his face. He had thought up the entire music video concept: What if we accidentally found a cloning machine, and instead of doing anything useful we just duplicate endless beer? With planning, props, hours of filming, a dangerous amount of beer, a lot of headbanging, and the genius of Tony Simone of Zenbeast Media, our insane vision has now been brought to life. I'm super excited to have released my first music video with Chuggernaut, and we're looking forward to working on even more crazy visuals for the other songs on "Kodiak"!

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!