Hacktivist "Hyperdialect" (2021)

 

 Brash, boisterous and bold, front men Jermaine Hurley and Jot Maxi define this record with a stiff, biting presence as two angered individuals pushing through modern madness. A sharp gritty street dialect and vicious, snarky raps have them foaming at the mouth, deflecting hate, affirming their status and tunneling into anti-establishment sentiments on rotation. As a hybrid of Djent Metal and Grime you could call Rap Metal, nothing like Limp Bizkit of course, its ultimately this duo that give Hacktivist a distinction in the modern Metal scene. Five years on from Outside The Box the group sound sharpened up alongside a lineup change with Ben Marvin being replaced.

Stripped down and reconstructed, the metallic elements of the guitars often delve into the simpler forms as big slabs of chunky low end noise slug out poly grooves with an Industrial menace. Reinforced by slick drums popping punchy snappy patterns, its modern clarity creates quite the sterile and lifeless fest of filthy noise that taps into the simplicity of rhythm as it pounds away its chugging noises. Weaving in some synth elements and Industrial sound design, the alienated sound feels like a unique match for the dystopian anger of the duo sharing the limelight with the mic.

Despite some quite obvious ideas in aesthetics, the band pull together these elements to make some fantastic songs, avoiding some pitfalls of breakdown riffs and the atypical with more fleshed out sounds and well written songs. Lyrically things can be a little patchy on the thematic front as some of the political lyrics feel somewhat buzz wordy and over simplified. When on the same wavelength with the instrumentals the energy is fiery as these sharp teethed rhymes hit with anger and occasionally spark a note with a couple of great hooks across its eleven tracks.

Its opening song Anti-Emcees leans a little heavy on the one word rhyme scheme. Its an odd opening choice, sets a different tone for whats to come. As the album plays the distance between Grime and Metal disappears, the two melding into a chemistry that will ultimately appeal more to Metalheads who are partial to Grime than the other way around. Given this crossover genre has offered little since the meteoric craze around the millennium, Hacktivist show there is still room to be explored however with the knack to write a killer song like the bands before them, it could be something special but for now they are putting out some well housed tunes within their limits!

Rating: 7/10

Hacktivist "Outside The Box" (2016)

The letter H has been carved in the corner of my mind according to the narrated mission statement on the opening track of this groups debut full length. Hacktivist are an English experimental group fusing together the bipolar styles of Djent and Grime with a flavor more accessible to fans of Metal than London's form of urban Hip Hop. I remember when the group formed three years ago, there was a wave of hype and despite quite a wait for this record the band have delivered on there promise. The name "Hacktivist" is a relevant and recognized term in this internet era society, a fusion of hacking and activism to represent independent online activism. With this the band take on a revolutionary persona of social and systematic consciousness to spread a message of anti capitalist, anti commercial action and awareness but as A.C. once said, "Music ain't the revolution, its only the soundtrack".

Starting off with "Our Time" Hacktivist set a strong tone for the record which never falters from its path of conscientious lyrics and stating their presence in the music scene. Rappers Hurley and Marvin come loaded with fast and sturdy flows, hitting their lines and rhymes over the top of crunchy, rhythmic Djent riffs. Its effortless on the listeners end, their tones and delivery works well with chunky grooves rattling away and waves of colorful shimmering guitars in between their raps. Marvin crosses from rap into shouted screams and guitarist Beazley drops in the harmonious clean vocals to offer three vocal dimensions that keep things fresh and varied across the forty minutes. On occasions the clean style sounds familiar to Enter Shikari, however these lads are from Hertfordshire too and the one song that sticks out actually features Rou Reynolds himself, which explains a lot.

With the versatility to sway from slamming Djent riffs into reverb heavy acoustics the instrumentals keep a lightness about them with subtle Post-Metal leads creeping into the background creating a spacious atmosphere for everything to fit together within. As with the vocals this dynamic expansion flows through the record to give each track its purpose and identity. There are moments where the raps are not present and other where the instrumentals take on a subdued approach to let the Grime raps shine. They are blunt and bold, no creative wordplay but more so straightforward expression and to the point message making that asks little of the listener. My only qualm may be with Hurley's breath control, leaving huge inhaling gulps in between each line, at the same time it adds an authenticity in favor of its removal through studio edits.

Outside the box is a solid debut, no weak moments or lulls, forty minutes of music that's not demanding. Fantastic production value with a great cohesion between the vocal and instrumental elements that could easily find themselves on different wavelengths but Hacktivist get all aspects right and are set to have a promising future if they develop as musicians. Entertaining record!

Rating: 7/10