Review Summary: Post-hardcore mixed with rave? Sounds bloody brilliant!
Emerging from the little known area of St. Albans, this group of four post-hardcore ravers have finally produced an album which I have to say is astonishing. After struggling to make it as a band since 2003 and releasing 3 EP CD's on their own label (Ambush Reality), Enter Shikari finally released an album.
The ominous intro to the album, known only as
Stand Your Ground This Is Ancient Land is used at all of their live shows and creates an atmosphere the likes of which I've never witnessed before or since. Even on CD when this intro begins you know that you're in for a brilliant musical experience. 1 minute and 7 seconds later, the hyperactive frontman himself (Roughton “Rou” Reynolds) bursts into your ears screaming “SH*T!!” as loud as humanly possible with a the sounds of fans cheering and a fantastic synth beat which is precisely what this band is famous for. Then the heavy guitars kick in and the screaming for their self-titled song. Rou's voice is thrown high and low throughout the track both singing lightly and growling from the bottom of his stomach. All this adds up to one amazing song. Following up this rollercoaster ride of a song is
Mothership; personally one of my favourite tracks on the album. The rather simple synth intro followed up by one ferociously heavy guitar and the lyrics which get the heart pumping and head banging - “Go tell all your friends, that this is the end!”. The drummers ability is tested fully with double bass being used left right and centre, but not overused as so many bands tend to. Section after section of the song rolls on featuring hellacious screaming, heavenly singing and a breakdown for all the ravers.
Track four is Enter Shikari's second single release –
Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour, aptly named after one of the lines in the title sequence to children's TV show Stingray. Nevertheless, this song is very heavy on synth and is not as heavy as the previous two tracks at all. This however could be argued as Rou does deliver some very harsh and angry growls and screams. The majority of the song however is sung instead of screamed, proving the vocal ability of the band as well as musical ability. Just as the band had intended to make the album all flow together (with only 2 seconds of silence on the whole album) we are greeted with the first of 3 interludes. Just one minute long it provides a nice breather before the almighty
Labyrinth. Focusing much more on screaming than singing, very catchy lyrics and tune – another personal favourite of mine. The transitions from the fast paced drums and growls to the slower elements of the song where Rou's voice is again proving its worth with some fantastic singing. When listening you know that a lot of thought has gone into the song itself and you REALLY want to see it live.
Now it's time the album gets into full swing with the anger-fuelled
No Sssweat. Straight away the song kicks in all guns blazing with stupidly fast drumming, great synth work and some sublime vocals. With the outcry of the chorus stating “You do this every f**king time!”, a message that anyone can relate to and it's obvious that Enter Shikari are indeed very annoyed at someone or something.
Today Won't Go Down In History is the first of two acoustic songs on the album, now as much as I have been saying this album is the bees knees I am not a big fan of this song at all. I feel it was done purely for the fact that Enter Shikari were trying to prove something to the music world, that they are just as good acoustically as they are when playing normally. I'm not saying that they're not good acoustically, far from it, but this is the only track I would consider filler material.
After another interlude the almost thrash metal intro to
Return To Energiser kicks in and reminds you after the acoustic break that Enter Shikari are bloody good at what they do. Almost 75% of the song being screamed from top of Rou's lungs you are hooked on listening to a song about laser quest. The lyrics however are not ridiculous they are in fact very clever and catchy and fit with music perfectly. Followed seamlessly by another interlude lasting only 18 seconds which is basically a drum and bass mess around before Enter Shikari's teenie bopper favourite and debut single
Sorry, You're Not A Winner. The song is brilliant throughout, even the slightly cheesy clapping engages you in this behemoth of a song. The screaming is perfect, the singing doubly so. All of the band sound amazing and are tighter than an Italian waiter's trousers. Definitely a classic.
After a track known only as
Jonny's Introduction, Enter Shikari's latest single offering is that of
Jonny Sniper. A song about a superhero who shoots condoms at people about to have unprotected sex – hence the name. The song is not built around screaming at all, instead another chance for Rou to prove his ability, and he does so brilliantly. Despite NME calling this song “The worst song ever written by anyone, ever” I believe this song is great and so do all the people I see shouting the lyrics live.
Adieu is the second of the two acoustic songs on the album – this one being somewhat better. Quite a lot of emotion is being poured into this track but at just under 6 minutes it does drag on for a while. Other than the length of the song, the acoustic qualities of it are astounding. If Enter Shikari did want to prove anything about their music ability, they definitely have in this song.
Ending this pretty much faultless album is
OK, Time For Plan B. The song used to end their live shows and their debut album is filled with passion, anger and of course synthesizers. Again the drummer is going mental on his double bass pedal and the band are all playing as heavy as they can muster to blast out this anthemic song. Once the song is over, an elongated outro leaves you feeling that you have heard something that could pave the way for music in the future.
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