By Mack Dreyfuss
Madison Magazine
Special To Channel 3000

The crowd sizes them up as they prepare for their gig. Between sound checks you can hear the whispers: "There's only two of them?" Curiosity and skepticism smatter the faces of the metal mongering crowed gathered at the bar. They came expecting heavy metal and instead what they see on stage is a two-man novelty. But when Ryan Peterson begins his all-out assault on his drum kit, and Cory Divine leans into the microphone, the audience's mood swing is palpable.

Within the first three minutes of their set, a tsunami of sound grips the place. Heart rates rise. Eyes flit between the two performers as adrenal glands dump a dose of "fight-or-flight" into the bloodstream. This is no amateur novelty. No frustrated derelicts making thoughtless noise to beg attention or affection. This is heavy metal at its purest, but it's also laden with a clear message to its target audience. Divine, the Madison singer-songwriter who founded the local band Birth of Tragedy, works to alter the trajectory of youth who have found themselves in the vacuum of addiction by producing his own yawp of sound.

Divine describes his style of music as "cathartic metal." "Although it's heavy and has a lot of aggression, it's a form of therapy for us," he says. "It draws out pain and allows us to express a whole spectrum of emotion."

Off stage, Divine channels that emotion into his job for the last two years as a counselor at Connections Counseling, an outpatient Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (AODA) and Mental Health Clinic in Madison. Founded by Shelly Dutch, the current owner and director, Connections works with people to address their personal struggles in a variety of ways, including helping them find their passions that are often hidden underneath two of the most common reasons cited for continued use of alcohol and substances: boredom and lack of inspiration. Whether in group therapy or one-on-one counseling sessions, creativity is a major ingredient in any effort to get and stay sober.

"Just the idea of creativity as a healthy alternative to substance use is fundamental to the Connections philosophy," Divine says. "When getting to know a client, one of the things that I inquire about is their interests -- what moves them. Nine out of ten times, music is one of their responses. Right there -- a catalyst for change." Inspired by the power of music, Divine writes songs that are raw and emotional, intentionally aggressive. His message, contained in the power of heavy metal, is to face your demons head on, and then conquer them.

"Those who have had social integration problems have often been battered by messages of worthlessness and failure," says Divine. "They begin to emerge from this fire when they see they can focus on something unique and of constructive value."

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