HACKTIVIST
release
“Hyperdialect”
out on June 18th 2021
Question everything. Consider your sources. Be wary of ulterior motives, insidious media narratives and even your own unconscious bias. Trust sparingly and try to make smart, informed choices. As the world slides further into ruin at the behest of old, rich white men ruling with catastrophic, zero-sum thinking, it’s more important than ever to be vigilant and fight back against the forces that be who seem hell-bent on creating a dystopian future for us all.
Luckily, Hacktivist are back to help cut through the noise and bullshit, tooled-up and ready to attack with renewed vigour and reinforced ranks. With Jot Maxi and J. Hurley now sharing the vocal and lyrical load, drummer Rich Hawking and bassist Josh Gurner bringing the beats and rhythms, and guitarist and production don James Hewitt fleshing out the group’s genre-fluid muscle, new album Hyperdialect arrives less like a mission statement and more as a flaming musical Molotov, declaring all-out war.
“This is gonna flip the game upside down,” J. promises, oozing the kind of battle-hardened confidence that only comes from the strength of surviving through the most testing of times and uncertain circumstances.
“Hyperdialect isn’t an album for people to just casually listen to,” he insists, “we’ve taken things to the next level, which I didn’t even think was possible. We spit the truth. We are the truth.”
In 2016, when Hacktivist initially set sights on their enemies with debut album Outside The Box, the world wasn’t fully equipped to heed their warnings and pay attention to its timely rallying cries. They return into a very different one, however – a world that’s sadly now all-too-finely-attuned to the horrors they first forecasted four years ago. In the wake of a global pandemic that has sharpened collective senses and exposed the systematic flaws across society, these should be times primed and ready for the truth-bombs that Hacktivist are about to drop. But recent hardships only amplify the band’s messages – these dispatches from the edge were written way before a virus brought humanity to its knees.
“The world is waking up,” J. reckons. “Some of the stuff we spoke about on Outside The Box is happening now, and on this album it’ll be the same story.”
Jot goes even further than his bandmate on this, reflecting upon what he sees as a world already in the vice-tight grip of a nightmarish dystopia.
“All of those science-fiction movies where the future is dark and desperate? Well, they weren’t fiction. That future is here, it’s dark, it’s getting darker every day and everyone’s sitting around waiting for the end of this virus, but there’s not going to be an end. There’s going to be another wave and then another wave. Our Brave New World may eventually be very ‘safe’ and it will probably look quite pretty, but behind that facade there’s going to be a lot of death, just like there is now. We’re all about exposing that underbelly, because not enough people think about this stuff.”
If all of that sounds grim and miserable, fear not, because Hacktivist aren’t here for unhelpful told-you-sos or sensationalist scaremongering. What use would holding a mirror up to all of this ugliness be if there weren’t some lessons to learned from the reflection, or at least to offer even the faintest glimmers of hope?
“It’s becoming clear that we are on the brink of some type of revolution,” says Jot, with no small dose of conviction or optimism. “Hacktivist are here to bring truth and positivity – the silver lining of a society clouded in poisonous fear. Hacktivist also represents a voice that isn’t afraid of saying what needs to be said. We’re already living in the future. We have the choice to either be shaped by it or to stand up and shape it ourselves. Which path will you take?”
It was with those battle lines clearly drawn and ambitions duly set that Hacktivist entered into the creation of Hyperdialect. Starting almost two years ago and developing on the acerbic sonic filth introduced by 2019 singles ‘Reprogram’ and ‘Dogs Of War’, the five-piece felt fired up by their new working dynamic and the collective process involved, with each member actively encouraged to contribute ideas until the best outcome was reached. Unusually, for such a group of bloody-minded insurrectionists, this democratic approach worked wonders – a testament to how much they were all on the same page on these 12 tracks. Aside from guest spots from rapper Kid Bookie on the monstrous ‘Armoured Cor’e and Betraying The Martyrs’ Aaron Matts lending his vocal talents to the title-track, this was all Hacktivist: no filter, no frills, and no holding back.
“None of us have anything to prove to each other,” J. reasons, “We’re all kind of easy going. We all get involved, but you’ve gotta give in a little to make sure everyone’s happy.”
“We are the voice of the people, of this planet,” he stresses, explaining how ego has no place in a process like this when you’ve got much bigger targets in your crosshairs. “We don’t see ourselves as above anyone. We’ve got a chance and a platform to speak, so we’re gonna speak wisdom. We’re not just gonna speak any old jibber jabber. We’re gonna keep it anti.”
“We are the voice of the people, of this planet,” he stresses, explaining how ego has no place in a process like this when you’ve got much bigger targets in your crosshairs. “We don’t see ourselves as above anyone. We’ve got a chance and a platform to speak, so we’re gonna speak wisdom. We’re not just gonna speak any old jibber jabber. We’re gonna keep it anti.”
And just who or what exactly are the band anti this time? Jot’s glad you asked.
“Hacktivist identified all targets on the first album and that burning anger still stands,” he explains. “With this album we’re coming through and we’re attacking. We’re coming for politics, certain aspects of the music industry, the way society thinks and our ingrained ideas and stereotypes. The media, the system, politics, adverts… everything. Everything is being fired at.”
Zeroing in on some specifics, Rich identifies the broken electoral systems, the global rise in immorality and accompanying apathy, alongside the growing sense that humanity is losing its grip on what he believes is our “innate empathic, spiritual nature” – points finely illustrated on the explosive trio of wake-up call album finishers ‘Planet Zero’, ‘How Dare You Exist’ and the aforementioned ‘Reprogram’.
The recurring message coming through on these missives is clear – the time for action is now, but no matter how fucked everything might feel, all is not lost. It can’t be.
“Despite the evil we’re being subjected to, we can still stand against this inverted version of humanity that we’re experiencing,” argues a distinctly hope-filled Rich. “Humans are powerful, spiritual beings, and just like the allegorical heroes depicted in comic books and films, we can use our superior logic, intellect and will to save ourselves and society.”
Right now though, we’re in the midst of that war for our future. We live in a world tearing at the seams thanks to chaos politics where spectacle and disruption trumps policy and progression. We’re at the mercy of a media fuelled by vested interests, financially gagged by greedy moguls who represent the one per cent of the one per cent. When the average citizen will never be privy to the full facts or the truth of anything, yet the man behind the digital curtain knows every one of our dirty little secrets thanks to social media data mining, it’s helpful and instructive to keep an open mind and always be on guard. While suspicion, speculation and conspiracy abounds, it’s difficult to know who or what to listen to. Hacktivist understand these fears and they’ve got your back.
“The important thing is to always admit that you just don’t know anything,” reflects Jot, sagely.
“If we recognise the darkness and duress we’re being held under, and the lies we’re being told, we can reject it and seek truth,” adds Rich.
That truth is coming soon. Don’t sleep on it this time. After all, when Hyperdialect drops, it may well be one of the few sources you can trust. Forewarned is forearmed.
“Hyperdialect”
HACKTIVIST
[June 18, 2021]
Genre:
metal, metalcore, hardcore
Base: England, UK
Label / Booking / Press:
UNFD / KINDA
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… “HYPERDIALECT feat. Aaron Matts”
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contact
Press: eros@kinda.agency
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