True originality is getting hard to come by in modern metal. One bandwagon comes along after another, only to break under the weight of its passengers. It seems that the djent movement is set to be the next casualty, but Hacktivist are not like the rest. Headed by the twin MC team of J Hurley and Ben Marvin, their blend of grime and groove-heavy tech metal is refreshing in a stagnating scene. This reissue of their fantastic debut EP is expanded to include recent single ‘Elevate’ and some other added goodies: of the two remixes included, the dubstep re-imagining of ‘Elevate’ is the more interesting, though neither are really essential listening, and the live version of ‘Blades’ gives some insight into their energetic stage show. The remaining tracks should be familiar to previous fans, but if you didn’t catch this upon its initial release, better late than never!
4/5
Wake To Reality, 11/11/13