Enter Shikari - Take To The Skies on CD

Description

The debut album from St Albans quartet Enter Shikari is an impressive testament to one band's spirited self-reliance. Not only does Take To The Skies touch down on Shikari's own homegrown label, Ambush Reality, this is the sort of unlikely soundclash – hardcore punk meets glowstick-waving rave – that millions said wouldn't work, but when done right, very clearly does. Not everyone will get it, of course – you can almost hear the generation gap yawning as "Stand Your Ground; This Is Ancient Land" kicks in - a mix of drum'n'bass snares, trance keyboards, and growled profanity that should leave the older rockers scratching their heads. But like Lostprophets before them, Enter Shikari are clearly something far more than a kiddie fad. The likes of "Mothership" and "Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour" tremor with the sort of earthquake breakdowns and thrash riffs moshpits were made for, and where synthesisers fire up, they do so with a remarkable cohesiveness, adding a surprising, euphoric counterpoint to the barked metal aggression. As with Lostprophets, time will tell if Enter Shikari have the anthems to become part of the metal big leagues, but Take To The Skies is an impressive, energetic starting point. 2007 debut album from the British rockers that pushes Hardcore and Metal to euphoric trance. Enter Shikari formed from the ashes of the lesser-known Hybryd, chose to take the independent route instead of searching for the almighty major label deal and embraced the internet, especially myspace. a little over a year later, and they are one of the UK's hottest indie bands. Take to the Skies, their debut album, is the most powerful album you will hear in 2007. 65,00 myspace fans and three million audio plays prove that this band will take on the world. Ambush. Review Listen to this album on your ipod and you probably won't get it for a long time. Put it in on your stereo - loud - and it begins to come clear. But you probably need to picture the festival scene... You are standing in a field with thousands of others; let's say all one hundred and twenty thousand of their myspace friends. So this is a rave, but what sort of music is it; Trancecore, Emocore, Nu-Emotional Hardcore Rave, Electro-screamo? Whatever. The truth is that unfettered by the dictats of a major label's marketing department these four kids from Hertfordshire have been free to wander around lifting from several seemingly clashing scenes. What they have created may not be unique but has not been seen in the mainstream before. One part hardcore, one part rock, a big splash of trance, and a twist of drum 'n' bass. It is, as they say, a heady mix, and somehow it might! just! work! At its best it is exhilarating, as in the three part opening that goes off like free trance party in the wilds of Gloucestershire and culminates in the euphoric 'Mothership'. Immediately afterwards the tension is ratcheted up by the insistent drive of 'Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour'. Somewhere in the middle 'No Sssweat' sidetracks down a fresh lane marked skacore by means of cheeky lyrics about eating your hand. After that charming detour 'Return To Energizer' brings back the hardcore. The trademark growling screams and heart lifting gang choruses segueing bafflingly seamlessly into beautifully placed trance synths. It is a perfect display of the band's art. Sometimes it all misfires - the electronics on 'Labyrinth' simply sound too eighties, and they foolhardily plunder that decade again for the guitars in 'Johnny Sniper'. However, what takes this album a few notches above the average hardcore is it's an ear for melody. This is best displayed the end-of-the-party 'Adieu' which displays the harmonic prowess to suggest these boys could rival Keane if it all went pear shaped. You sense they get this too because the swiftly trash that notion with a couple of final 'core flourishes - the splendid final showdown of 'OK, Time F

Tracks

1 Untitled 1:08
2 Enter Shikari 2:52
3 Mothership 4:30
4 Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour ... 4:32
5 Untitled 1:01
6 Labyrinth 3:51
7 No Sssweat 3:16
8 Today Won't Go Down In History 3:34
9 Untitled 1:28
10 Return To Energiser 4:35
11 Untitled 0:18
12 Sorry, You're Not A Winner 3:52
13 Untitled 0:35
14 Johnny Sniper 4:01
15 Adieu 5:40
16 Ok, Time For Plan B 4:55
17 Untitled 2:44