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…

NEW RELEASES AND UPCOMING RELEASES

The Red Baron – A 5 piece hardcore band out of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida has announced that they are now taking preorders for their upcoming EP called “My First Love.” From what we know here at HXCChristian.com, this is the bands first full length album. The album is being released on Blood & Ink Records. The official release date is April 7th. Here is what the band says about the album “We’re really excited about this album. A lot went to each song, spiritually speaking. We’re really proud of how honest and real this album is.” You can go reserve your copy here. They have a pretty cool package deal (which seems to be the new thing) where you can get a Tshirt or tank top as part of your order. If you want to learn more about the band, we did an interview with Phil and Chase, you can read it here. You can go to The Red Baron’s myspace page and listen to one of their new tracks called “Grace is for Falling.” I am sure that we will see these guys on tour soon, they have some dates up in the Southeast on the their myspace page, go and check them out if they are coming to your town.

Josh from XLooking ForwardX posted a bulletin on myspace a while back saying that he wanted to put together a new project. It sounds like the project is starting to get some legs. Safe to say that a lot of people are really excited to see what Josh puts together. The name of the band is “Back to the Garden.” Here is the blog post from the XLooking ForwardX page from Josh:

“My new project is officially named Back To The Garden. All of us in this new band felt it was appropriate, since this band reflects a bit of a spiritual regrouping for those involved. We want to focus on a message of love and grace, and at the same time, create something that we really enjoy.

Kevin and I are just starting the lyrics, but we have the music for four songs laid out. It’s coming together quickly, but we’re not trying to rush anything. Everyone is still getting used to each other yet, but the confidence is clearly building with each practice.

The vocals are the next big project. I know that it’s really going to shape the way the band is perceived, but I want to try to stick to the script of no screaming. We have toyed with the idea of some Orange 9mm or Downset-style vocal delivery in parts, but we’ll likely stop short of anything beyond that level of aggression in the vocals.

The level of aggression in the music is another story. The music is super heavy, but has some subtle melodic elements. There are definitely some breakdowns in there, and I’m real happy with how we were able to work them into the plan. As to whether it will be something hardcore kids can get into, well, I can’t say for sure, but I can say that there will be no shortage of dance opportunities.

I’ll probably set up a myspace for the band soon. It will still be a while yet before we post any material up, though. As I’ve said before, I want to make the first impression count.

I’ll keep posting updates every now and then. Thanks for reading! Take care.”

Josh

Venia – A 5 piece hardcore band from Minnesota says that it has completed recording of its new album to be relased at a future date on Blood & Ink Records. We are bigs fans of Venia here and really like their music, plus, ask anyone in the hardcore scene that knows the band and they will tell you that they are the hardest working band out there. They are ALWAYS on tour, I call it “eternal tour.” They have a clip of one of their new songs within the “Sideburns Tim” update (whom is missing his sideburns oddly enough). It sounds phenominal.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Great Commission – A 6 piece hardcore band out of Redlands/Grand Terrace, California, released their first full length on Strike First Records. The name of the album is “And Every Knee Shall Bow.” If you picked up their demo they had for sale, then you are in for a real treat. I personally thought the demo was really rough, but still a great set of songs. From what I understand, it was recorded in a church santuary with all members playing at the same time. Well, the new album with it is production value is incredible. You can go and check out some of their new tracks on their myspace page the name of the tracks are “Let Your Kingdom Come,” (featuring JR from Sleeping Giant) and “I Dub City” (featuring Eric from XDeathStarX). Both great tracks. You can go and purchase their album on the Strike First website.

Irish styled punk/Oi! band Flatfoot 56 is working on putting out another album. I have heard through sources that they are playing some of their new songs at their shows. I hear that their new material is awesome. No word on when their new album will be out, but I am sure I will post something on it when it drops. You care read about the upcoming album here.

I am sure there is a lot more that I have missed, if so, please email me info at Josh @ HXCChristian. com and I can post it in the next batch of news.

ON TOUR

Strongarm – Classic Christian hardcore band from Florida is not really on tour, but I thought this was news worthy.  Jason Berggren (former lead singer of Strongarm) will be playing a Strongarm tribute show at the Cornerstone Festival this year in Illinois.  The band Life In Your Way will be performing back up as the band.  Jason and Life In Your Way will be performing songs off of both Strongarm albums.  Jason also recently published a book called “10 Things I Hate About Christianity; Walking Through the Frustrations of Faith.”  To learn more about Jason’s new book, he setup a blog called http://www.10thingsihate.com/.  I look forward to reading the book and posting a review.

Call to Preserve is playing with Reign Supreme & Madball. I got to hang with the guys in Call To Preserve all afternoon and treated them to dinner at the BBQ Lodge here in Raleigh. Great guys with great stories and a lot of fun to hang out with. I think the most fun was hanging in the parking lot with Call To Preserve, the guys from Reign Supreme, and watching Freddy Madball play soccer with all the guys. Never thought I would go to a hardcore show and see Freddy Madball playing soccer. The show was great, but the crowd was small, which doesn’t surprise me because the hardcore scene in general here in North Carolina is slowly growing. You can check out Call To Preserve’s myspace page for tour dates, and let they guys crash at your house if you can, they would love it! See the pics below.

Venia is STILL on tour (do these guys ever quit?). These guys are machines. They are doing another tour that will cover most of North America again. I asked them if they ever stop touring, their answer….”nope we never stop touring. We hate being home.” (they were kidding of course). To check and see if Venia is coming to a town near you, go to the Venia myspace page.

All Or Nothing – A hardcore band out of Hollister, California is gearing up for a nationwide tour starting in the next couple of days. They have a pretty beefy schedule. They also just released their new album available on Ethos Records. Go and check them out if you like your hardcore mixed with a little metal. These guys are brutal, but love Jesus. If you want to give them a try, visit the All Or Nothing myspace page.

The Red Baron has dates posted outside of Florida. Looks like mainly the Southeast at this point, but we would bet they probably tour with the release of the new album. You can check their tour dates on their myspace page.

Christian punk band Fight Before Surrender is headed to Europe (well the UK at least), so if you are in the UK, then go and support these guys. Their tour starts April 1st and wraps up on April 9th (at least that is what is on their myspace page). They are also recording a new album as well, no word on it yet though. Go to FBS’ myspace page to check dates.

CALLING IT QUITS

XSolidarityX from Sacramento is calling it quits – great guys, great music, they will be missed. Go and check out their myspace page and pick up their full length it is worth it. Here is the link to the XSolidarityX myspace page.

Take care and God bless – Keep it HARDCORE!