It’s been a big year for Hacktivist. The british five-piece recently signed to Australia’s UNFD record label and shortly after jumped on the Soundwave festival line-up.
The term experimental does not do justice to Hacktivist’s sound. The band combines a distinct style of progressive metal known as ‘djent’ with raw hip-hop and rap influenced vocals.
The opening track ‘New Age’ off their self-titled EP snapshots the group’s genre lyrically and structurally. It immediately combines a rap chorus – heightened by three vocalists – with hugely technical palm-muted riffs.
‘Unlike Us’ is a better taste of the EP with the djent continuing to melt your face off. The deeply resonant bass ceases, leaving a progressive high-pitched rhythm for J Hurly’s heavily accented hip-hop verse. After this section, the bass returns with palm-muting chaos and a fast-paced chorus that has all vocalists chiming in. Lyrically, ‘Unlike Us’ is filled with strong political themes.
The self-titled track on the EP highlights the band’s distorted, grungy djent and Hurly’s high-energy poetry.
With the overuse of ‘breakdowns’ and bass-drops in metal sub-genres these days, Hacktivist are able to produce a similar yet individual musical effect. They do this when the rap verses come to an end and Hurly’s voice picks up in pace and volume (with all vocalists joining in) and the bassy, chaotic djent returns with a blast.
Each track on Hacktivist is different to the next, making it one entity that’s unique – especially compared to what other bands are producing at the moment.
Listen to ‘Unlike Us’ here:
