Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Rat Race [EP] - Enter Shikari


          Enter Shikari is finally back. Although I'm a little late on the review, this group has always been sensational and I've yet to find another group that has a sound similar to theirs. Shikari always does an insane job at mixing the best elements of hard rock and hardcore with electronic and poppy choruses. It seems like such a strange blend but it just works, and that is the case once again with this release. Although it's only 3 "new" songs (one of which could be counted as an intro) it's great to have new material from this band to see where they are taking their sound and progressing. I'm happy to say that not much has changed. Although bands are supposed to grow with time Shikari is managing to put out new material that maintains their unique sound, while incorporating new ideas that are making them stand out even more. The Paddington Frisk starts off very intensely bringing us back to the bands sound that was found on Common Dreads and even a hint of Take to the Skies. It even has a small section later on where the band gets down and dirty with some chugging and low end vocals. However, this song is only a little bit over a minute but it is a very beautiful minute and seventeen seconds indeed. The next track is Radiate which was released as a video a while back. Radiate gives us more of the electronic side of Enter Shikari with some heavy beats blasting while being backed by some sick guitar riffs and 4 on the floor drumming. It them transfers into a melodic orgy with sounds coming from every melodic voice that just mix together to form unity in the track. While it does have some repeating verses, it changes it up plenty and gives us some great new ideas as to where Shikari is headed. I especially love where everything cuts out except the guitar noodling and Rou's clean vocals. The third song is Rat Race... A lot can be said about this one but I'll try to keep it somewhat short. An intricate little drum diddy starts of the piece with guitar picking and disc scratching. The listener is then greeted with a badass horn section in the background  while the chorus kicks in. Rou's screams are definitely at their best in these new tracks and his cleans are also as good as ever. 
          Of all the bands in this scene, I'm glad to see that Enter Shikari is maintaining their roots and providing us with fresh ideas at the same time. This EP is extremely well put together and just solid all around. A remix of Radiate is even included as a bonus when it is purchased on iTunes or Google Play. This is a definite buy for any fans of the genre!


Rat Race [EP] = 5/5

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