Review Summary: "What the hell entered my ears?" Oh, Shikari did.
I have always liked bands that don’t care what haters think. Bands like Refused, Rage Against the Machines, Letlive, System of a Down, etc. It is Musicians that simply just risk it and do it for themselves and for the right intentions that start revolutions. I know it’s early in the year, but lets welcome Enter Shikari’s new album, A Flash Flood of Colour.
This album straight up delivers variety and creativity. Genres ranging from metal, punk, pop, dub-step, trance, hardcore, and just something your ears may have never heard. Enter Shikari has always been that band that people tend to just hate or just love. They grow on you trust me. The first time I heard them I was like “ what the hell”. You simply can’t listen to them once and review them and talk about how bad they suck. Enter Shikari is a pro-evolution band first off. They are going to throw you off all the time with new weird hybrids of music. I know jumping into the whole dub-step-metal thing is tough for the mind to grasp at first. Especially, when they started throwing in politics. My point is you must evolve your brain with a couple listens before you judge. This band stands for something important. This is no album you put in to hear a band cry about their love life or crybaby feelings about something unimportant. Open-mind is key when listening to them.
The album starts off with “System…” then goes into “…Meltdown”. This is pretty clever in my opinion. The beginning punches you into powerful synths and powerful lyrics about our current system that set the tone for the albums message. Unity is a main focus here. Rather then Take to the Skies, the electronic are not cheesy and gimmicky. They are infused perfectly now with there style of music. “…Meltdown” is easily one of there best songs now.
The song “Search Party” comes off poppy. It’s very catchy and fun to listen to. This is another classic track for them. Then comes the monster, “Arguing With Thermometers”. This song is a successful hybrid of punk-dub-step. It’s one the heavier ones on the album. Comes in next is “Stalemate”; a beautiful track comes in slow and with a powerful message about the worlds current affairs. This will remind fans of Adieu from Take to the Skies. This break of soothing music doesn’t stay to long. Then comes the exotic “Gandhi Mate, Gandhi. A very weird dub-step-metal hybrid thing, you know you simply can’t classify this song anyways. This song will shock the listener at first. Couple more listens you’ll realize the genius behind it and its humor. Once more another classic Enter Shikari comes in called “Warm Smiles Do Not Make You Welcome Here”. Best way to describe it is that it’s an indie-poppy-hardcore thingy. This song ends epically with an awesome guitar riff screaming the albums title.
Towards the end of this almost flawless album is “Pack of Thieves”. Personally, this is my favorite track. Shows their courage and creativity as musicians. It’s another poppy-hardcore brand. Last but not least comes “Constellations”. This song is just simply beautiful. Speaks of our primitive system and are progression. Ends the album perfectly with positive lyrics and simple cosmic music.
Enter Shikari have progressed so much from there previous works into something so fantastic. They make a strong stand for what they believe. Their message is something everyone should here. It’s a brave message that many will criticize. They know this. Like I said before, they simply don’t care. To me they describe what music is supposed to be. They want to move forward and change our current state. Evolving into something greater is what it’s all about. Enter Shikari nail this right on the head. This is my first review and I know many are going to say it sucked and how bad this band is. I don’t care though. I loved it and that’s it.My only complaint is “Sssnakepit”. It's like a 4.7.
