Album Review: Hacktivist - Outside The Box

Hacktivist's debut has its hits, and some near misses.

Tracks such as No Way Back, False Idols and Elevate show the UK band at their strongest, where they can contend with contemporaries Tesseract, Animals As Leaders and Meshuggah. As sonic risk takers, Hacktivist deserve to succeed. Their musicianship is impressive, with the drum-work deserving particular kudos, and their guitars producing satisfying churns. Unfortunately, some tracks feature cliched elements. If Hacktivist hone in on their strengths and become more self-aware about how those on the fence view their music they can certainly win over more of the metal community.