Heavy metal pushes music past the distortion level. But the group A Hollow Union sends a message that cuts through the noise.

"The only time I felt I wasn't alone was listening to this kind of music because the anger I felt, it was there," said lead singer Mike Higa.

The anger Higa's talking about started as a teenager when his girlfriend was raped.

That's one of the reasons his band has taken a stand against sexual abuse.

"I started to bottle everything up and it destroyed me for awhile," Higa said.

Lee Miyashiro, the group's manager, was also victimized sexually. A relative attacked him when he was ten years old.

"When I tried to tell people about it, they didn't believe," he said. "It confuses you because when you're that young you're thinking to yourself, 'Is this supposed to be happening?'"

First-hand experiences with sex abuse give the group material for songs that's raw and real.

"I didn't like meeting people. I didn't like meeting males," Higa said. "From the initial meeting you were guilty until proven innocent."

At their shows the group mixes in a message of hope that the sexually abused can find healing.

"So we can speak from experience. This is how we got through this," Miyashiro said.

"We've been given an opportunity. We've been given a platform," Higa said.

When A Hollow Union turns up the volume, they never know who's listening.

For more on the group go to http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=206980825

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