Album Rating: 3.0

nah this band goes hard. i love drumming along to it

Album Rating: 3.0

i also fap to it

Album Rating: 3.0

nope sorry, as soon as it comes on i whip my dick out and go hard for the entirety of the record.



mmm timfy....

Album Rating: 4.0

I feel like doing naughty stuff when that riff by 2:20 of Cold Shoulders comes in.



Naughty stuff.

Album Rating: 3.0

there are a few riffs on this EP that just punch so hard, that is one of them. that's what i love about this record, the production is great imo. satisfies my drum loving side and my nasty as fuck riff side.



if that made 0 sense i apologize.



EDIT: listening to the EP to find my favourite riffs. brb 10 min



EDITx2: 2:17 on the self-titled song and thereon after till 3:00. 3:15 on Blades is great cause I actually really like the tone combined with timfy's melodic singing. probably just me though but i find it soulful and groovy as fuck at the same time

Album Rating: 4.0

Went on a proof check, spot on. Really. And Timfy does have dat tone. Band rules, seriously.

Album Rating: 4.5

Yeah they're working on an album now and I still find it hard to see why they're still unsigned when they've gone so far as to have daytime airplay on BBC Radio. Then again nowadays you don't exactly NEED to be signed, look how big The Defiled got before they eventually decided to go to Nuclear Blast.

The title track hits like a mofo, but the problem with the album is that every songs sounds almost the same with very little variation. And it's troubling because this is only an EP and it sounds too samey.

Album Rating: 4.0

@metvlz, True, and they're pretty good too right? Been meaning to listen to their stuff for a while..

@Metulz: Why do they even need a big label contract. Tours and shows is there where money is and these guys are play Rock AM and all the metalfests without having any big money backing them. It's a win win. Record albums independently and you don't have to pay back your label so all your festival and tour proceeds go straight into your own pocket.

Album Rating: 4.0

True. Either they manage their own stuff, or have someone very competent in charge of doing it for them! Props in their way anyhow!

Album Rating: 4.5

Yeah the only reason to get a deal now is if it's extremely favourable for you to go further than you think you can manage still going unsigned. For example, The Defiled. They'd managed to become one of the UK's biggest unsigned acts and got more than enough in a PledgeMusic campaign to fund their second album, then signed to Nuclear Blast even though they didn't need it. The NB deal must be hugely beneficial to them in terms of distribution and touring opportunities for them to have signed cos they didn't exactly need it.

Album Rating: 3.0

honestly with the internet around bands can defs make it independent. with the right marketing techniques and staying true to your fans, i dont think labels are needed at all.

Album Rating: 4.5

I think The Defiled went for a label cos they never really gigged/toured outside the UK before so maybe they felt they wouldn't be able to without the backing of a label like Nuclear Blast to get them there. Hacktivist have already started playing festivals across Europe though (e.g. Sonisphere France) so they could be OK on their own.

Yeah, it's kind of amazing how Hacktivist have blown up without label support. The only remaining push they need is to get off the continent. Hooray internet!

Album Rating: 4.5

Another example of an unsigned band getting big in their own country is actually in India, with Goddess Gagged. Awards/nominations from MTV and Rolling Stone and all sorts, but it seems that label support is definitely going to be needed there in order to break Europe and America. Skyharbor have Basick in that respect (and as Basick are one of those new labels which looks after artists pretty well it's win/win for them) but also got boosted by the presence of Dan Tompkins while Goddess Gagged have no established European musicians on their roster (although Skyharbor's success in Europe may help them cos of Devesh) and only came to my attention through a Guardian article on different acts from around the world and they posted a download link to a GG demo of Visionary.

Album Rating: 3.0

that's pretty cool actually. i'm happy for these guys, and somewhat jelly i can never be a successful musician ;_;



skyharbor is one of my favourite bands too. i'm so happy dan decided to join them

All Indian bands make it big without label support. Whatever they accomplish, it's almost always on the backs of their own efforts. Bands like Indus Creed, Motherjane, Avial, Junkyard Groove, Undying Inc., etc have been gigging around Asia and have decent followings in SE Asia without being signed to any majors (or even minors in most cases).

Album Rating: 4.0

"honestly with the internet around bands can defs make it independent. with the right marketing techniques and staying true to your fans, i dont think labels are needed at all."



I dig your take on this Beef. It kinda is true, or at least i like to think so. But yeah Hacktivist really went huge without having a label contract. Going around Europe with the limited support they have as of now, hell that isn't for everyone.

Album Rating: 3.0

well you recall the big northlane marketing technique that basically secured their band in the scene for the next couple of years right?



despite the album being kinda meh (imo) it gained a lot of hype because of the website countdown thing and the teaser which got everyone stoked.



i think what bands really need to focus on is communication with their fans. who doesn't love watching update videos showing the actual writing process with some snippets of new material (produced) thrown in for extra hype.