Hacktivist (band)

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Hacktivist

Ben Marvin and J Hurley
Background information
Origin Milton Keynes, England
Genres Rap metal, grime, nu metal, progressive metal
Years active 2011–present
Labels Wake to Reality, PIAS Recordings
Associated acts Heart of a Coward, Sacred Mother Tongue, Districts
Website Official Website
Members Tim "Timfy James" Beazley
Jermaine "J" Hurley
Ben Marvin
Josh Gurner
Richard Hawking

Hacktivist are a British five piece band from Milton Keynes, formed in 2011 by guitarist/vocalist/producer Timfy James and rapper J Hurley after Timfy's departure from his previous band Heart of a Coward. The band is known for its distinctive and sometimes controversial style, which blends elements associated with the djent and nu-metal movements with grime and alternative hip-hop.

History

Hacktivist began in 2011 after Timfy James' departure from technical metal band Heart of a Coward. James claims that the formation of Hacktivist was a "fluke", with no intention of developing such a style, but the group was born when his friend J Hurley, a local rapper with little history in the metal scene, began recording vocals over some of James' demos.[1] After the demos became very popular online, James decided to recruit a full lineup, hiring Richard Hawking on drums, Josh Gurner (ex-Sacred Mother Tongue) on bass and Ben Marvin (James's former bandmate in Heart Of A Coward) as a second vocalist. The band began work on an EP in 2012 and debut single "Unlike Us" reached No. 2 in the Amazon UK metal chart within 48 hours.[2] Despite being released independently on 12 November 2012, the band's self-titled EP proved popular in the metal media with Metal Hammer in particular giving the band significant coverage[3] and considerable airplay on BBC Radio 1, despite negative feedback from other outlets such as MetalSucks[4]

Tim and Ben both provided vocals on the Districts track "Callous Vessels" in 2012, which Tim also produced.

After the release of the Hacktivist EP, the band set out touring to promote it. This included supporting slots for acts such as Enter Shikari and performances in European festivals such as Sonisphere Festival, Download Festival and Rock am Ring and Rock im Park in summer 2013. In April 2013 the group released a new song "Elevate", with an accompanying video, for free download[5] and this was followed up in August with a cover of "Niggas In Paris" (originally by Jay-Z and Kanye West). A video for "Niggas In Paris" was filmed during their set at Download Festival 2013. They also performed a live session for BBC Radio 1 at Maida Vale Studios.

The band headed out on a UK headline tour throughout winter 2013, supported by The Algorithm. A re-release of their debut EP with 4 bonus tracks was released on 11 November 2013. They are also currently working on an album set for release in 2014.

Musical style

Hacktivist's music is a blend of several different styles. They are noted for using 8 string guitars and 6 string basses to achieve an extremely low tuned and dark sound similar to bands from the djent movement, as well as ambient passages and a "wall of sound" production style. Their vocals are primarily rapping, although they also make use of conventionally sung vocals and occasional harsh vocals. Their lyrics are collectively written by the band and mainly deal with subjects such as conspiracy theories, government corruption and other social and economic issues.

Timfy James has stated in interviews that even though he enjoys technical music, he did not intend to write "musicians' music" for Hacktivist. Instead, he wanted it to be a project which could cross musical boundaries and appeal to those who would not normally like hip-hop, rap or metal.

Because of their musical and lyrical style, they have been compared to Meshuggah, Tesseract, Limp Bizkit and Rage Against the Machine, and are often classed as progressive metal and rap metal.

Members

Discography

Extended Plays
  • Hacktivist (2012, self released; 2013, Wake to Reality/PIAS Recordings)
Albums
  • TBA (2014)
Music videos
  • Cold Shoulders (2012)
  • Unlike Us (2012)
  • Hacktivist (2012)
  • Elevate (2013)
  • Niggas In Paris (2013)

References

  1. ↑ Interview with Hacktivist Metal Mouth. January 15, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  2. ↑ Hacktivist: 'We're uniting a lot of people' The Guardian. 1 November 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  3. ↑ New Music Monday: Hacktivist Metal Hammer. October 8, 2012. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  4. ↑ DJENT-RAPPERS HACKTIVIST KIND ENOUGH TO PUT THE WORD “HACK” RIGHT THERE IN THE NAME MetalSucks. October 17, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  5. ↑ HACKTIVIST Debut New Video And Offer Free Download Metal Mouth. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013.


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