Having already lived through the genre swapping 90s when Faith no more, the Beastie Boys, Rage against the Machine and Biohazard regularly mixed rap and rock with dizzying effect, there is little to suggest that what The One Hundred are doing is particularly original, although the band have thrown a few modern production tricks at the mix, meaning that this rap/metal crossover sounds closer to Korn’s dub-step spewing album ‘path to totality’ than Rage against the machine’s analogue attack. The results are frequently startlingly heavy, although to what extent the digital bloops and bleeps that skitter across the surface of the band’s otherwise analogue attack augment, rather than detract from, the sound is debatable. The result is musical Marmite, a mash up that will alienate as many as it invigorates whilst the oh-so-modern feel also begs the question of longevity. That is not to say that the band are poor, far from it, but that they will be divisive is without question.
The six track EP opens with ‘No FKX’ which moves from an initially chilled, sampled intro that has more in common with Eminem than House of Pain, which builds into a nu-metal blast of downtuned riffs and frantic scratching. It’s the sort of opening that Limp Bizkit perfected some fifteen years ago, but for all that, the adrenalin surge that it triggers is very real. The first song proper is the surging metal of ‘breed’, a melting pot of numerous influences which features hardcore-infused rap vocals, huge meaty riffs and endless digital trickery that adds little to the music beyond what pioneering rock bands were doing with remix EPs almost twenty years ago (‘demanufacture’ anyone?) whilst the breakdown that sees the song slip into pure R&B territory is liable to grate on anyone who finds modern radio to border on the offensively bad. The band’s attitude is very much “if you don’t like it, fuck you!” which suggests laudable levels of confidence and an awareness that this most certainly is not going to appeal to everyone. The result is a song that shows potential, skill and a suitably frenetic level of energy, but ultimately the track relies too heavily on the spurious notion that the approach is novel rather than upon genuine innovation. Better, perhaps for being more straight forward in its approach, is the furious rap metal of ‘Kingsmen’ (included as a video clip below) which harnesses the band’s palpable sense of rage to a series of cataclysmic riffs that combine far more naturally with the digital framework the band employ. That said, the production struggles to cope with the relentless digital manipulation and this results in the introduction being far more muted than you would imagine it should be as throbbing bass overpowers guitars and the inevitable compression struggles to cope.
Employing the opposite tack, ‘unleashed’ opens as a fairly laid back hip hop number, banks of keyboards providing the backing and it takes a while for the guitars to reappear. The result is somewhat jarring, the band’s r&b influences going head to head against grinding guitars, and you’re left with an unhappy compromise that only really comes alive in the brief moments when metal wins the battle and briefly surfaces from underneath the sampled surface clutter. Operating within more Korn-esque territory, ‘tale of two cities’ does a grand job of melding huge riffs to skittering beats and this is where the band’s ambition is most clearly realised, the hard-hitting riffs perfectly married to a sampled backdrop that will undoubtedly pack out rock club dance floors the country over. It is the EP’s highlight and the relentlessly poppy ‘downfall’ fails to live up to the high-octane thrills of its immediate predecessor.
The One Hundred are a band who show admirable ambition and confidence on this, their debut EP release, but the results are varied indeed. Whilst the band’s approach seems superficially innovative, there is little here that has not already been approached by the likes of Korn and Fear Factory, and there are numerous moments where the band seem to struggle with exactly what audience they want to appeal to – veering from the scarifying screams most likely to appeal to the metal fraternity to huge choruses that slip into R&B, chart-hugging territory. Of course, the advantage of such a split focus is that the band have the potential to expand listeners’ musical horizons, much as bands like My Chemical Romance, The Rasmus and HIM have opened a gateway to heavier pastures for fans in the past, but the disadvantage is that more seasoned metal fans are liable to look askance at the band’s everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach. Slick, professional and well crafted, the ‘subculture’ EP is an angst-ridden, youth-orientated blast of noxious rap-infused metal that will undoubtedly gain a huge following and a large, angry, band of detractors, although to what extent the band will give a flying f*** about the latter is entirely open to debate. It’s not a release I would recommend, in all honesty, to the majority of metal fans, but for those whose tastes are broad enough to count hip hop, r&b and dub step amongst their favoured genres, then The One Hundred are worth checking out, as they may well be for those who would like to hear a modern update on nu-metal. For those whose taste in metal is rather more traditional, however, I’d steer well clear.
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