Enter Shikari, a 4 piece rock band from England , are
set to release their new record this month. On January 16th, the
band is releasing their fourth album ‘Mindsweep’ which is set to be better,
stronger and more developed than all the previous albums. The previous album
was released in 2012 leaving a gap of nearly 3 years for fans to eagerly await
the next album. In anticipation of the release date, the band has released 4
songs from the album to gage fans reactions. The four released songs,
“Slipshod”, “Anaesthetist”, “The Last Garrison” and “Never Let Go of the
Microscope” have met incredibly positive responses from fans that are eager to
get their hands on the album in its entirety.
After receiving my copy a couple of weeks prior to the
release date, I was looking forward to hearing how the band had developed their
sound to create something worthy of almost a 3 year wait for fans. I was quick
to notice a much heavier addition to the album. The band is famous for seamlessly
interweaving features of post hardcore with features of heavy metal such as
metal core and alternative metal and combining that sound with other features
of electronic music including drum, bass and dubstep. This original sound has
continued to progress the band and allow them to stand out that little bit more
than other bands who are trying to achieve a similar response. The increase of
electronic features and an increase of heavy stylistic features have pushed the
band to really develop their sound and create an album that shows progression
but familiar development.
A refreshing feature I noticed among the songs was that they
did not have the annoyingly similar structure or features, much too often I
discover songs are so similar that they are just different versions of each
other, it was very good to notice a good band who had been successfully
together for almost 12 years were still able to produce fresh tracks for their
album. Although sounding similar enough to belong to the same album and still
successfully displayed traits of their developed sound, the songs sounded
different and felt fresh as I switched between tracks.
All in all, this album will storm the alternative scene and
will make a significant impression on all cities visited on their upcoming
tour. The album will have an extreme impact on albums and artists releasing
alongside the date and has set the bar incredibly high for material of 2015. I
find it very reassuring that the English alternative music scene is still as
strong as ever and believe that ‘Mindsweep’ will remain many people’s ‘album of
the year’ despite its early release.
