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HACKTIVIST: “ELEVATE”

Apr 022013

Just minutes ago, UK-based Hacktivist released a new song named “Elevate” for free download, with an accompanying video. I am posting this news and the video in part because I like the song and video and in part because I always enjoy the comments we provoke when we write about Hacktivist.

Hacktivist do have their supporters around these parts, but like the Marines logo says, they are the few, though they are proud. As for everyone else, you’ll just have to suck it up and soldier on (and leave your comments).

Hacktivist haven’t yet turned into a black metal band. It’s still rap + djent. I have no ability to judge the quality of the rhymes (I listen to very little rap), but at least they’re still going on about something serious, and those rhythms still get my head bobbing.

To download the track for free, go HERE. To watch and listen, just follow along after the jump. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: MAGOA, MAVETH, BATILLUS, AND HACKTIVIST

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 20 Responses »

Dec 042012

This morning I found three new videos and a new full-album stream that I want to send your way. Sending now:

MAGOA

Magoa’s new EP Animals is finally out, and as of this morning so is yet another Magoa music video. Since we’ve already featured the first two videos for this French band’s EP, why stop now?

The new one for the song “A Thousand Lives” was directed by the same man who was responsible for the first two: Benjamin Cappelletti. The first two were so good that I had high hopes for the new one, too, and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s just as much fun to watch as the first two. Mr. Capelletti cannot fail.

I also now have a new appreciation for the seriousness with which Magoa approach their craft. A lot of bands performing in a bedroom would stop what they were doing if hot chicks in their underwear invitingly climbed into bed and started caressing the band members, but Magoa soldiers on with their song. Impressive display of willpower. I also didn’t see the underwater shots coming, but it was a really nice surprise — which I’ve now sort of spoiled for you. I’m such a dick sometimes. Continue reading »

HACKTIVIST: A SECOND OPINION

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET 33 Responses »

Nov 132012

(In this post, long-time reader and previous guest contributor VyceVictus provides his take on the debut EP by Hacktivist, which is now up on Bandcamp.)

After much anticipation and consternation, Hacktivist have finally dropped their debut EP. I had a rough outline for my guest review of the new record in the works, but after seeing TheMadIsraeli’s wonderfully astute and concise evaluation of the matter, I concluded there really isnt much more to deliberate. You either like the sound or you don’t. Even so, Hacktivist hit me hard and left me with a couple lingering ideas that I think are worth addressing.

I indicated once before how I am a lifelong supporter of “Real” Rap Metal, so I was pleased to see a modern band approach the idea with sincerety and fresh elements. The lyrics aren’t necessarily gonna set the streets on fire or anything, but the ideas seem thought out and the dual vocal attack delivery is tight and flows well.

The grooves are indeed immense and immediate, the licks are quick, and the djently djenting djent of the guitar attack djentrify the songs codjently and concisely. Djent. I am not a musician or professional critic. That word means nothing to me, but it sure does seem to grind peoples’ anuses the wrong way (is there a right way to grind anuses?). All I know for sure is that the guitar structures are pretty sick and make me bang my head. Continue reading »

HACKTIVIST

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET 11 Responses »

Nov 092012

(TheMadIsraeli has some thoughts to share about the debut EP by the UK’s Hacktivist, which will be out on Nov 12 and is up on iTunes for pre-order now.)

Alright sons, it’s time for some real talk here. If you don’t like this band, at least be able to give me an academically informed reason as to why their music sucks, because if all you have to say is “it has rap in it not kvlt,” I really don’t have an interest in hearing it.

Hacktivist are bringing something new and interesting to the table by combining two things that, quite frankly, were always begging to be combined: rap and djent. We’ve had a shitton of discourse in the metal sphere about whether or not djent is just the more legit, more intelligent form of nu metal, and I think Hacktivist’s self titled EP is the closing case on the matter. It’s here where we see the two styles melded together so well that it’s amazing it wasn’t done sooner.

I’ve always had the confidence that rap and metal COULD work together. Rage Against The Machine is a dear favorite band of mine, and while nu metal mostly sucked, I did enjoy the angst and energy a lot of it had. Hacktivist take these elements and combine them with modern groove metal into a package that I think works, and works superbly well. Continue reading »

ODDS AND ENDS: YELLOWTOOTH, ERYN NON DAE., ODYSSEY, HACKTIVIST

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 12 Responses »

Sep 092012

It’s Sunday morning here in the Great Pacific Northwest, and I’m moving at a glacial pace, having headbanged way past my bedtime at a Korpiklaani–Moonsorrow–Tyr–Metsatöll show last night (about which there will be more later). My computer screen is kind of blurry, though I haven’t yet figured out whether that’s because I sneezed on it or my eyes are just filmed over. Still, I’ve been able to make out a few pieces of news that are worth sharing, though it’s possible the band names are all wrong. Blurry.

My ears are still working reasonably well, though there’s a ringing noise in them. I haven’t figured out whether that’s an after-effect of last night’s show or the space aliens have altered their frequency to get past my foil helmet. Fuck space aliens. Before they fuck you. Anyway, I’ve heard some new music I like, and I’m sharing that, too, though when I mention the ringing noises that I hear in the music, you might want to take that with a grain of salt.

YELLOWTOOTH

I’m gonna start with the music. The music comes from an Indiana band named Yellowtooth and their debut album Disgust, which will be released on Sept 11 by Orchestrated Misery Recordings. Yellowtooth is a trio of 40-somethings who’ve paid dues in other bands going back to the early ’90s, and Disgust reflects an amalgam of their interests. I’ve only just begun listening to the album, but it has really struck a chord in me, and I mean the chord that connects the reptile part of the brain stem and the gonads. That baby is now just twanging away something fierce.

The music is loaded with fat, sludgy, primal, throwback riffs, with a meat-grinding bass tone and well-executed solo’s. And although the music may be best classified in the stoner/doom category, the hoarse death-metal vocals (which I fuckin’ love) turn the songs into something else — something that wants to eat your liver and brain. The shit is really catchy and really foul, and I’m digging it mightily. There’s also an interesting ringing noise that’s like an ever-present atmosphere in the music. Continue reading »

“UNLIKE US”: HACKTIVIST PREMIERES A NEW SONG (yeah haters, we doin’ some H again)

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 32 Responses »

Jul 282012

TheMadIsraeli took the heat for introducing us to the UK’s Hacktivist back in January (this post). Took the heat . . . because rap and djent. That’s mainly what the Hacktivist guys are doing, and that’s not exactly what the NCS community is all about.

But the 83 comments on that earlier post weren’t all heat, and I for one kinda liked what I heard on that previous video, “Cold Shoulder”. Liked it enough that I kept my eyes open for something new, and knew that something new was coming, and within the last hour it arrived: the band’s new video for a new song called “Unlike Us”.

I like this new song even more than the first one. I like the pneumatic punch, the fleeting electronics, the ratcheting melody, the machine-gun-fire rhythmics, and the booming tone on those low strings. I liked the vocals, too, though usually I have a low tolerance for rap.

I headbanged, too.

Okay, you know what the Comment section is for. I got my flame-retardant underwear on. Video follows the jump, and you can follow Hacktivist on Facebook here. Continue reading »

HACKTIVIST RIFF TEST

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 19 Responses »

May 172012

So there’s this UK band called Hacktivist. TheMadIsraeli wrote a post about them in January that garnered 83 comments, and I didn’t even write half of them like I usually do. To my rudimentary way of thinking, that means Hacktivist generated some interest, despite the fact that a big chunk of the comments weren’t very nice and despite the fact that Hacktivist combine two dirty words in most elitist metal circles: rap and djent.

I’m all about pandering to the interests of NCS readers. So, I’m writing this post despite the fact that all I have is a riff test that Hacktivist posted today, a riff test that lasts only 1 minute and 17 seconds — and that’s including a synth intro and outro (yes, apparently even riff tests require intro’s and outro’s). And no rap.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/46698319″ iframe=”true” /]

Continue reading »

BANDS YOU NEED TO HEAR: HACKTIVIST

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 87 Responses »

Jan 282012

(TheMadIsraeli returns with another quick heads-up about . . . something different from an English band called Hacktivist.)

I am either about to be extremely surprised or lose all metal credibility in front of all of you.

Rewind to the 90’s and early, early 2000’s.

I know, I know. You wonder to yourself why do I assail you with such trauma? Why have I caused your soul such ache? Why doth I penetrate thy conscience with such unfathomable knives of contempt!? Continue reading »

THE BEST OF BRITISH 2016, PART 3: XII BOAR / INVOCATION / UNFATHOMABLE RUINATION

Album Reviews 8 Responses »

Sep 142016

(Andy Synn turns in a trio of reviews for three recent albums of quite different styles and genres, united by their country of origin.)

Well ladies and gentlemen, here we are again, another opportunity for me to fly my nationalistic colours (which don’t run, let me tell you that) and gab on about a triptych of recent (or recent-ish) releases from my beloved motherland. As is traditional, we’ll be starting off the column with a rousing rendition of “Rule Britannia”, so if you’d all please be upstanding…

All joking aside of course, most of you will know by now that I don’t really care that much for nationalist sentiment or blind patriotism, particularly when it comes to music. I like a band because I like their songs, not because we happen to have been born in the same country or geo-political sphere, and I have very little time or patience for the vagaries of scene politics or the type of person that thinks you have to support a band just because they come from the same place as you.

That being said, however, I do realise that such factors as geographical proximity and general exposure mean I’m much more likely to stumble across bands from the UK who are worth blogging about than someone living elsewhere on this big blue/green marble, so I feel a certain sense of responsibility to cover these bands when they pop up on my radar.

So here we go again, once more, into the breach! Continue reading »

IRRELEVANT LISTENING — VOLUME 2

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 3 Responses »

Mar 092016

(TheMadIsraeli returns with another round-up of music from yesteryear that’s been keeping him company lately. Volume 1 can be found here. As will become obvious, the post’s title is tongue-in-cheek.)

Here we are with this again. I’m feeling this idea a lot, I have to admit. Getting right to it…

Exodus – Tempo Of The Damned

I honestly believe at the end of the day this is Exodus’ best Souza-era record. It has punch, attitude, mean-as-fuck riffs, and it feels like there’s a higher degree of precision here. I know people enjoyed the wild, free-spirited nature of their earlier albums, but I do feel like the band mastered their craft here.

It also stands as a pretty solid reminder that out of all the more popular American thrash bands, Exodus are the absolute KINGS of the mid-paced stomp. “Sealed with a Fist” is the epitomizing example, raunchy and in your face while being infectious and full of that piss and vinegar thrash captures so well. Continue reading »

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