Chokehold (band)

Chokehold were a Canadian vegan straight edge hardcore/punk band formed in 1990 in Hamilton. Their first release More Than Ever was in 1991. This was quickly followed in 1992 by a split EP with Crisis of Faith and the Life Goes On EP that same year. Their rise in popularity paralleled that of other vegan straight edge bands such as Earth Crisis and hardline bands like Vegan Reich and Raid. While bands that adhered to Hardline were totally opposed to abortion, Chokehold was vehemently pro-choice.

In 1993 Chokehold released the Prison of Hope LP through American label Conquer the World Records (CTW). They released their next record, 1994's Instilled EP, on Philadelphia's Bloodlink Records. This EP featured some of their most political material to date, notably the anti-religious song "Anchor" and the anti-homophobia song "Mindset", and their kind of manifesto "Burning Bridges", that proclaim the Animal, Earth and Human Liberation.

They followed this in the next year with their second LP, Content With Dying. This album contained "Not a Solution," a militantly pro-choice hardcore song.

They signed in 1996 to Germany's Mad Mob Records and recorded four new songs to be released as a split CD with Feeding the Fire, but after a European tour in 1996 the band decided to break up. They played their last show in March at the New Bedford Fest in Massachusetts. These four songs were released as a self-titled EP on Jawk Records the following year. Members went on to play in such bands as The Swarm, Brutal Knights, Left for Dead, Haymaker, Our War and Seventy-Eight Days.

Discography

Demos, EPs and Splits

Full Lengths

Compilation Appearances