Enter Shikari - Common Dreads

In the summer of 2006 Enter Shikari packed out the Myspace tent at the Download festival on reputation alone. Everybody had to see the newcomer. In November that same year they were the second unsigned band ever to sell out the London Astoria. Shortly after that, two sold out nights at the Hammersmith followed. After that the rest of the world got to know Enter Shikari through their debut album Take To The Skies which was released by the band itself. These youngsters now have just released their sophomore album and I’m rather curious how it turned out.

 

The album kicks off with the message of unity. Now, don't worry, they’re not making any political statements. It’s just that they believe it’s the only way to overcome the problems of modern society. With that out of the way, let’s continue. In 2006 they surprised a lot of people with their mixture of trance / rave music with metal, which of course contributed to their sudden success, but the major question is of course what this next album will do.

 

After the intro the album starts to fire the first couple of songs on the listener and I have to say they do sound good. The rave influences are still present but less dominating compared to the previous one, especially since you consider that the techno and raves are more part of the songs than before. The first couple of songs are great without the feeling that I get a lot of techno shoved down my throat.

 

The only major setback is that during the later part of the album I miss just one or two major pounding tracks. Most of the songs are just going on and on without the shit really hitting the fan and that’s a pity. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good songs between them but it all sounds too soft on that second part of the album. I want to get smashed in the face when I’m listening to this. Luckily, along the way they show that they still got it with ‘Antwerpen’ and the pounding track ‘The Jester’. Maybe this isn’t such a bad album after all!