Adrenaline Magazine has a new home at wordpress.com. I guess its time to make it official. I've been working on setting up the new site and I didnt have Mike announce it at The RS Club on Friday because I wasn't too sure I was ready to leave Blogspot behind. BUT...wordpress is just so much nicer (sorry blogspot). This site will be active for alittle while longer but all updates will be done at www.adrenalinemagazine.wordpress.com . TELL YOUR FRIENDS.
THIS WEEKEND IS THE 2ND ANNUAL HELLRAISER MUSIC FESTIVAL AT THE RS CLUB IN WOODLYN, PA. THIS YEAR, ADRENALINE MAGAZINE IS A PROUD SPONSOR. SO PUT THOSE HORNS UP AND COME OUT AND CHECK OUT SOME OUTSTANDING LOCAL METAL.
Adrenaline would like to take a moment to acknowledge those who have inspired, either entirely or in part, the bands that we enjoy featuring. Not that we wouldn't love show caseing national acts in our blog all the time, but being that we are a small, extremely unknown, well we like to consider ourselves underground :D, publication, its not always easy to get access to those national entities. So every once in a while, when we are given the opportunity, the Adrenaline Magazine National Spotlight will appear. This one unfortunately is rather skimpy but we will try our best to bring you interviews, news, and maybe one day video footage of your favorite national acts. Until then ENJOY!
UNEARTH The Boston native band Unearth, comanded the Trocadero main stage last night when they opened for metal legends Testament. Their aggression and presence were unavoidable. Trevor Phipps (vocals), Buz McGrath (guitar), Ken Susi (guitar), John Maggard (bass) and Derek Kerswill (drums), brought mass chaos and destruction, the embodiment of original hardcore and thrash metal. Heads were banging to a range of tracks from In The Eyes of Fire, The Oncomming Storm, and their latest release The March. Long hair, sweat, muscles and an ear grinding growl (and not to mention some sick shredding) made this performance a perfect start to a monumental show.
Its been 10 years since the mighty Testament have played at the Trocadero, according to lead vocalist Chuck Billy. He towered over his band mates,Eric Peterson (guitars), Alex Skolnick (guitars), Greg Christian (bass) and Paul Bostaph as they lined up to take a classic bow at the end of their 90 minute set last night.
Their selection ranged from old school classics to tracks from their latest release, The Formation of Damnation. The crowd was intense and responsive, as any genuine Testament crowd should. Pits were forming and collapsing into themselves and fans crowd surfed to the stage.
Overall the set was memorable and brutal all that could be expected from these titans of metal.As Testament stood side by side on the stage, Billy declared a promise that they would not wait another decade to come back and dominate Philadelphia again. The crowd let out a gratuitous roar, horns in the sky, as the legends walked off stage.
The lights were down at the RS Club and the low hum of the crowd was all that could be heard. Guitar feed back filled the room as lead vocalist Hixon, walked from the standing area where fans were anxiously waiting for the set to begin. Hixon spun around slowly, wearing a traditional clerical collar and an S&M type face mask, held the mic up and let out a blood curdling growl. Fierce metal riffs swarmed from the stage area and the crowd cheered viciously. The Heavy Metal Takes a Stand against Breast Cancer show was already well into the line-up at this point with two more bands to conclude the event but The Hixon performed as if they were the headliners and gave their all for a monumental cause.
On May 1, in Woodlyn, Pa., local bands Self Medicated, Dawn of Correction, Sapremia, and The Hixon, performed in the annual Heavy Metal Takes a Stand Against Breast Cancer event to raise money for breast cancer awareness, prevention and research. In 2000, South Jersey band The Hixon, Flip (bassist), Eduardo (guitarist), Well-Z (drummer) and Hixon (vocals), began organizing this event in response to a very personal situation.
“It all started because Hixon’s mom is a breast cancer survivor.” Well-Z says. “And honestly this is a disease that can affect anyone’s mother, sister, wife or girlfriend. Plus, what metalhead doesn’t appreciate breasts?!?!”
According to the National Cancer Institute, approximately 13 percent of women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. That means there is a 1 in 8 chance of women today getting breast cancer. In 2006, slightly less than 10,000 women in Pennsylvania alone were victims of invasive breast cancer, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The PDH also reports that 2,294 deaths occurred that year due to breast cancer. So for The Hixon, organizing this event was a no brainer.
“It is a great cause that hits home for me.” Dawn of Correction’s lead vocalist Chris Natalini says. “I know somebody that caught her breast cancer just in time, so she is currently going through radiation treatment and should be free and clean. [And] it gives metal bands a good name”
It was because of this lurking bad reputation of metalheads that The Hixon had to move the traditional date for the event from Mother’s Day weekend to May 1st. Their original venue canceled on them and all other metal bands for good. The Hixon was forced to ask a large favor from their friends in Sapremia in order to keep the event going.
“Thanks to Lou of Sapremia for letting us turn the May 1st 2009 show into this years Heavy Metal Against Breast Cancer.”
“They agreed to help promote the event with billboards [and] advertising when we first started.” Well-Z says. “We just continued to do it every year since then. They are the go to foundation when it comes to breast cancer research.”
At the end of their set, Hixon, with his long hair pulled back in a baseball cap, wearing a fresh shirt and a large white toothed grin, stood in the center of the performance space while Dawn of Correction scrambled behind him to set up their equipment. Next to him was a woman, holding a bucket filled with raffle tickets, purchased by the many people who attended the event to show support for the cause. Hixon reached his hand into the bucket and pulled out the first ticket, a gentleman won. Hixon congratulated and thanked the man and gave him a Sirius satellite radio (an effort for another cause Hixon is adamant about, “anti-philly-free radio”). Hixon put his hand into the raffle bucket again, smiling and joking with fans as he did so. The second winner of a large amount of money was a woman, who immediately gave it back to Hixon to donate to the Susan G Komen Foundation. Hixon accepted the money and showed his gratitude.
