For those of you who have not heard, HXCChristian.com will have a comp album due out around March 16th.  Special thanks to our pals at Thumper Punk Records who helped with all the heavy lifting on the comp.  “We at HXCChristian.com are really excited for this comp album to be released,” says Josh of HXCChristian.com, “not only did a ton of great bands step forward to contribute to the album, but the proceeds will help HXCChristian.com to continue to have a great presence at music festivals such as Cornerstone.”  While HXCChristian.com keeps it overhead low by a pure DIY ethic, we really like to do it up at Cornerstone.  Last year, we had an official generator tent where we were able to have bands do “meet-and-greets” with all the folks who attend Cornerstone.  Leroy – lead singer for War of Ages, Andy – lead singer of A Plea For Purging, and the guys from Debtor, all came out to answer questions about the band, life on the road, and how God has used them to reach out to people at shows.  We also had a pancake breakfast with Call to Preserve, and a free spaghetti dinner where we must have fed 200 people.  We look forward to doing it bigger and better at Cornerstone this year.  So, by purchasing a download of this comp, or buying the disc will help support our efforts.

Enough about us…..Who is on the comp?  Well, we had 25 bands volunteer to put a song on the comp.  It is just short of a full disc of music.  There are two sides of the comp, hardcore vs. punk.  Here is the track listing:

Side A (Hardcore Side)
1.   Welcome to Hardcore Christian Radio
2.   “Familyhood,” In Shepherds Arms, Armor of God
3.   “Nineteen Eleven,” Braveheart, Speak to These Bones, 1981 Records
4.   “Pale Rose,” Messengers, Anthems, Facedown Records
5.   “Keep On Smiling,” Gorilla Warfare, Keep On Smiling
6.   “Big Question,” Carrying The Fire, Demo (2011)
7.   “Lazy Sunday,” Those Who Fear, S.O.T.S. Demo (2009)
8.   “The Seed,” Killing Years, Demo (2010)
9.   “Control Freaks Who’ve Lost Control,” Divinity Theory
10.  “Bare Heights,” Debtor
11.  “Voids,” Strengthen What Remains, Humanity, On The Attack Records
12.  “Season of the Starved Wolf,” A Hill To Die Upon, Infinite Titanic Immortal, Bombworks Records

Side B (Punk, Oi! and Ska Side)
13.  Welcome to Hardcore Christian Radio
14.  “Old Rugged Cross,” False Idle, Hymns of Punk Rock Praise, Thumper Punk Records
15.  “Revolution,” True Liberty, City of the One, Wounded Records
16.  “Walking Dead,” The WAY, The Fight Is Ours, Thumper Punk Records
17.   “Lost Cause,” The Kings Kids, Thumper Punk Records
18.  “Take Me Away,” The Rekoning, The Road Less Traveled, Facedown Records
19.  “They Hate You” (originally performed by FBS), Grave Robber, Exhumed, Rottweiler Records
20.  “Standoff,” FBS, Live Grenade
21.  “Mad At The Girls,” Lust Control, This is a Condom Nation, Captive Thought Publishing
22.  “You Forgot Something,” Unshackled, Overcoming Years, Thumper Punk Records and Caustic Fallout
23.  “Another Day Gone,” The Hoax, Stumbling Through, Thumper Punk Records and Caustic Fallout
24.  “Boxcutter,” Skamikaze!
25.  “10,000 Ladders,” Send Out Scuds, High Score
26.  “I Wanna Let You Out of the Box,” Destroy Nate Allen, Until My Ankle’s Better
27.  “Hope, UniSEF,” Can These Bones Live?

AND….for the big reveal, we have been teasing folks with what the album cover would be.  I am big fan of the punk DIY style and lifting an existing design or album cover.  SO…we were huge fans of the Christian Aerobics album that was released many years ago.  And we thought, what a better way to honor such an interesting piece of Christian art/Americana than to update it to “Hardcore Aerobics?”  After all, anyone who has ever been in a pit knows that it is a real work out!  Folks that buy the physical album will also get some cool info on the insert including an exclusive on the how and why the site was started.

How much? Digital downloads will be available and will be priced at $5, physical copies of the CDs will be $10 plus shipping ($2.50).  Also, we should be able to take orders on this site or from Thumper Punk Records.  So check back often before the 16th for more details.

Thanks for your support, thanks to the great folks at Thumper Punk Records, Caustic Fallout, Seth from False Idle, and all the fantastic bands that have contributed to the album!  See you at Cornerstone 2011 and God bless!

Monday:

Strangely, my first show of the week came via the youthful Nashville death-mongers As Hell Retreats. Big hardcore style beat downs and fast blast beat sections could easily have overwhelmed the bulbous crowd assembled at the large generator stage (I’ll not name it) if the sound had not been an obvious hatchet job. I’ve rarely seen such a blatant attempt to monkey wrench a band but fortuitously team ‘Retreat showed a professionalism rare in many young bands and worked through it. The punters responded favourably and a good time was had by all regardless. Kudos to them.

A chance meeting with some friends from Denmark heralded a some great entertainment from Solace The Day on the Greenlight generator stage. The sound was poor but the wiry Vikings swung their dreads and contorted their way through a half hour of fairly convincing slovenly southern metal. Unfortunately, it became apparent that with so many ultra-tight metal bands at the fest STD’s calculated slop-core seemed to go over the heads of many of the passers by. I couldn’t believe that so many seemed to miss the point that its meant to sound like that.

During the general malaise of what I call ‘festival admin’ – setting up tents, bimbling around and finding your friends etc. – I found myself distracted by the horde making their way to the Anchor tent and a band hitherto unknown to me called Children 18:3. A kind of east coast punk thing set out by this 3 piece seemed to go down well with the large mob assembled and a proper excited vibe became apparent. It I thought they where quite good but that their attempt to show off the skills of their more than proficient drummer fell a little flat with me.

A Hill To Die Upon on the impromptu stage at midnight provided me with my first ever black metal show (or ‘black death’ as I was later corrected) and a fearsome spectacle it was. Extremely aggressive, tight and focussed I was impressed enough to decide to explore the genre more thoroughly upon my return to blighty.

So day 1 down and its metal: 3, punk: 1. But Tuesday is still to come…

Tuesday:

FBS (Fight Before Surrender) where nasty as ever, whipping up the crowd and pummelling out the low down street punk in short sharp bursts, just like yo momma used to make. I consider these guys a festival essential and suffice to say they brought the goods and all where summilarly rocked. Nuff said.

For me, cornerstone this year was all about Tuesday punk at Fatcalf. I missed earlier sets from the likes of Destroy Nate Allen and True Liberty but managed to get back in the game in time for the ever faithful Scurvies. I was disappointed that the bands whole line up had been replaced but the Aleutian quad brought the beef none the less. Flanked by two former members of the Mainline Riders, singer Chris held court over a crowd who where intent on freaking out – and freak out they did indeed. A large, fast but sparsely populated circle pit opened up and bodies flew out of the way like rag dolls. Pure rock n roll is rarely as pure as this. The Scurvies are thoroughbreds and you NEED to see them.

Revolution Radio stepped up to the mark and provided some respite from the madness with a good old sing along. Aaron has a knack of connecting with the audience and much singing along entailed. Backed by the boys from the Last Hope and sporting a new drummer RR seemed to be flexing some new muscle and really enjoying themselves. Half an hour with this band is time well spent.

A few band later and bumbling on stage came Sexually Frustrated. Decked out in splendidly tasteless Hawaiian shirts they barrelled through a host of intense hardcore numbers, stopping only to allow space for the totally entertaining poetry of their mascot Mikey. This band is a joy to watch – pure and simple. It was also cool to see loads of girls watching a purity band and I was surprised to find out that it was their first show in a Christian environment. I can only deduce that there where some fairly rowdy crowd antics in the offering as I was buffeted from all sides, having worked my way forward to shout along like a mad man. Sheer glee.

Having lost my shirt in the SF swim pit I took the opportunity to grab a couple of Flatfoot shirts and ran to my tent to deposit them. Upon returning to Fatcalf I heard the sounds of OCD (Our Corpse Destroyed) covering Black Flags Rise Above and ran join the fun. I braked hard as what can only be described as utter carnage met me. The maddening scene comprised of the stage brimming over with punters all gleefully making a grab for the mic. Bodies where surfing from the drum kit into the generous pile up enveloping the stage and the circle pit was nothing short of a frenzied drag race. Ill be honest – my bottle went and already knackered by the preceding bands I decided to enjoy this one from the sides. In all my 32 years I have never, ever, witnessed a gig with such ferocity to have such an unbelievably positive vibe. A new wave of craziness swept over the crowd as Reap What You Sow opened up and my resolve broke and I lobbed my aching frame into the fray to bark along with all my heart. The chant of REDEEEEEMPTION! REDEMP-TION TODAY! must have been heard all the way to the main stage. Amazing.

Few people could have followed this set and the knackered crowd thinned considerably for relative newcomers Brain Freeze. Cheap and nasty in all the right ways the three piece rattled out a bunch of loose fitting choons at a reasonably receptive crowd. Personally, I was glad of the relief from the intensity and enjoyed laughing along with their happy go lucky chant-o-pop. Good times and Mickey Mouse ears are their modus operandi and very effective it is too. A turn in events came with a cover of Jesus Christ Hardcore brought a sudden rush of people darting in from the edge of the tent and further a field to grab the mic and throw their lungs into it.

Here is some great video of Dougle with the Rodent Emporium at Cornerstone this year.  See if you can figure out which is Dougle (sorry Doogs, couldn’t resist sharing this with the world and perpetuation the Doogs legend!!)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tuesday was a triumph, but Wednesday is coming…