Hacktivist - Hacktivist EP

Music can so easily polarise opinion amongst music fans. If it's too poppy it can be seen to be loosing credibility and if it's too arty, people think is too high brow. None more so is this true of metal and it's many sub-genres. UK band Hacktivist burst onto radars last year with their debut EP, which combined djent and hip-hop inspired sounds. It held the ground between the two genres and doing so created a new crossover. It also gained Hacktivist a large following around the globe as well as live appearances alongside bands like Tesseract. Here's my review of their self-titled debut EP.

Tracklisting:-

1. New Age
2. Unlike Us
3. Blades
4. Hacktivist

5. Cold Shoulders

Hacktivist start things up with a rallying cry in the form of New Age. That mixture of futuristic djent rhythms and hip-hop vocals may be an acquired taste, but it certainly has plenty of attitude. The great thing about it is, the lyrics are clever and they don't take their cues from US mainstream hip-hop, where to be frank, the majority of lyrics are immature and pointless. Unlike US talks about overthrowing the system and seems to be their way of challenging the current music scene. The interplay between the two vocalists is good and when combined with the powerful drums and chunky guitar, it's a formidable sound. Blades brings a different element to proceedings with clean vocals being added to the mix. They also inject more introspective instrumental passages and subtle electronics which add to the atmosphere, but the main message is given in the lyrics and I think it's almost an extension of the political message that's come from punk up until now.

They continue building on their sound, focusing on some key signature points and keep up a layer of aggression that sums up the feeling amongst many people in society today. As they lurch into EP closer Cold Should, you will have probably decided whether you like them or not. With hooks and a chorus that will probably stick in you head for a long time, there's no denying the impact they have. I think that Hacktivist add something to a genre which has been growing at a rapid rate and in doing so, has become stale. They stick their necks out and have the conviction to do something different. The purists reading this probably won't think so, but this type of experimentation is what helps metal stay fresh and move forward. You think of bands like Linkin Park and Enter Shikari before them. They innovated and brought new sounds to the table and both of those bands are still highly relevant, so there's no reason why Hacktivist can't do the same.

Naturally you can make up you're own minds by listening to the EP on Hacktivist's bandcamp page below:-

Through the bandcamp page you can purchase both limited edition CD and digital download version of the EP. 

Hacktivist can be found at http://hacktivist.uk.com/ and at https://www.facebook.com/Hacktivistband.