Trips to The Peel are always a little treat and fast rising metal/grime giants Hacktivist certainly left their mark. With appearances fast coming at Reading and Leeds, they have proved to us that this is plenty more of them to come.
First up Confessions Of A Traitor (6) showed us what they are made of, harbouring some nifty riffs. An opening slot, surprisingly, was met with a full house and a few hardcore fans who headbanged like their life depended on it.
Aurora (7) brought a new energy to the stage and at the very centre, was the beautiful Jessica Calvesbert. We’re instantly told “nod your fucking heads Kingston”, signaling a hell of a riot. We were correct to assume as Jessica flung herself into the crowd, giving us some funky moves, singing her beautiful heart out. But amidst the pretty cleans came stifling growls that fit perfectly in their array of tracks. A huge thank you speech to the rest of the lads in the band highlights just how well they work together as a band.
The burley quintet of Black Tongue (7) took to the stage, ready to rip every last one of us into shreds. Deep, yet slow riffs dominate the tracks, commencing the hardcore dancing pros. Vocalist Alex Teyen lets rip, with a stare that is ripe to kill, whilst drummer Aaron Kitcher produces some grizzly looking expressions. High fives and mic grabs are all over the place and the crowd couldn’t be happier. Constantly on the move, the Hull lads exude confidence, as their stage presence sends most of the crowd in a state of frenzy.
“We’re a five piece band” launched Hacktivist (9) into their most popular track Elevate. Instantly, the crowd lift themselves off the floor, bouncing from floor to the ceiling. This energy never subsided, bar the rap segment in which most people pretended they were as good as J Hurley and Ben Marvin. Secondly we were treated with the beat driven self-titled track Hacktivist. The menacing melody is the perfect lead up to the grime vocals. ‘I think that you’ve bitten off more than you can chew’ is sung with integrity and we know that Hacktivist are all about spelling out the truth.
A circle-cum-mosh pit takes over The Peel and suddenly a duck headed man is crowd surfing over every last person, aiming for the stage. We’re flung into Niggas In Paris and Aurora vocalist Jessica launches herself from the stage into the hands of smiling fans.
We’re left with Cold Shoulders, or so we thought. With the crowd not letting up the Hacktivist lads come back on stage for one last night with a repeat of Niggas In Paris. For one last time, both band and crowd gave it their everything and the crowd was an every man for themselves mosh.
Headbanging, stage diving and aggressive grooves, what more could you ask for? A high energy night, full to the brim with amazing talent is just what The Peel is all about. It will be sad to see it go, where nights like this will go a miss in the future.
