thu 10/10/2024

CD: Enter Shikari – The Mindsweep | reviews, news & interviews

CD: Enter Shikari – The Mindsweep

CD: Enter Shikari – The Mindsweep

Hertfordshire electro-rockers' reach exceeds their grasp

Cosmic misfires in the psychic galaxies of The Mindsweep. Possibly.

Certain bands pre-empt dramatic sea-changes in popular music. The ones that almost get there first. These outfits arrive a smidgeon too early and create sounds that are nearly – but not quite – what's just round the corner. Think of the pub-rockers presaging punk, or Sigue Sigue Spuktnik's sample-centric electronic pulse three years before rave arrived, only on the wrong drugs and with the wrong haircuts.

Similarly, the second album from French electro outfit Justice, 2011's Audio, Video, Disco, predicted US-conquering EDM, but drew too much from The Who and too little from dubstep. Even earlier, in 2006, Enter Shikari, four teenagers from St Albans, showed extraordinary foresight, combining heavy rock with euphoric trance music. It was so unlikely and odd-sounding, yet now every metaller from Korn to Linkin Park is at something similar, and America's kids headbang to Skrillex, Bassnectar et al.

Enter Shikari are now on their fourth album. Their raw passion is admirable in a media universe where irony and smirking meta-perspectives have run riot. It pains me, then, to report that it's difficult not to smirk at The Mindsweep. Its earnestness is preposterous, opening with a po-faced shout out: "This is an appeal to the struggling and striving, stakeholders of this planet, this floating rock we call earth..." Oh dear. The same song will shortly invoke King Arthur and Excaliber. If they were Muse, coming on like a 21st century Queen, they might just get away with it, but their bombastic amalgam of Bring Me The Horizon and Chase & Status is simply cheesy.

There are moments when it works – the Prodigy-like "Anaesthetist", the straightforward nu-metal rocker "Torn Apart", the noisy closing number – but more often the listener is simply left cringing as they conjure up quotes from Socrates and Hippocrates amid death-metal roaring, terrace chant choruses, and bizarre production that's midway between Ellie Goulding and prog-metal. I usually enjoy Enter Shikari's adventures. Possibly Skindred fans and listeners in their teens may still do so but, for me, The Mindsweep is the sonic equivalent of embarassing sixth form poetry from a band capable of exhilarating, pushing boundaries and, perhaps, even hinting, once again, at what we'll be listening to in five years time.

Overleaf: watch the video for Enter Shikari's "The Last Garrison"

If they were Muse they might just get away with it, but their bombastic amalgam of Bring Me The Horizon and Chase & Status is simply cheesy

rating

Editor Rating: 
2
Average: 2 (1 vote)

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Nice review, but what's wrong with a shout-out like: "This is an appeal to the struggling and striving, stakeholders of this planet, this floating rock we call earth..."? If the masses find that cringeworthy, maybe we've all become corporate-brainwashed. Also, who are Bring Me The Horison? Do you mean Bring Me The Horizon? Ah, well...

If Enter Shikari are a mix of bands then they are far closer to At the Drive-In + The Prodigy than Chase and Status + Bring Me the Horizon.

You're review lost all credibility when you called Torn Apart Nu Metal... Like seriously dude? For a music reviewer you don't really seem to educated in your field of work. Opinions are opinions but at least have some sort of grasp on what you're discussing...

Very arrogant review indeed. You are simply disregarding a bands message based on the fact that they do not sound like Muse. Fantastic. "Embarrassing Sixth Form poetry" from a band that actually wants to change something, while you simultaneously praise musicians that sing about relationships in every single song and absolutely nothing else. At least Enter Shikari are different and have ambition, if we had your way we'd be listening to Muse every day and in that situation I'd rather not listen to music at all.

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