Friday 3 July 2009

















Enter Shikari – Common Dreads


We must unite. The clear political viewpoints of this once small 4 piece band from St Albans, England, are emphatically displayed throughout the brilliant follow-up album to ‘Take to the Skies’. The debut album, peaking at number 4 in the UK album charts would initially seem hard to beat for a very different band, combining hardcore music from both the metal and electro sides of the music world; nevertheless, Common Dreads has proved to be an intense and once again very unique journey through dubstep, drum and bass, hardcore and rock – all mashed up into a matchless album of politics, escapism and good times.


The contrast in sincerity from track to track allows the political side of the album to become emphasised more effectively without becoming monotonous, opening with ‘we must unite’, to conclude with ‘we’ll be forever against this’. By leaving messages of unity and togetherness with the audience, this cleverly ties a sentiment of intimacy between the listener and the album. Away from the political side of the album, the music in itself is highly unique. ‘Havoc A’ and ‘Havoc B’, created to act as interludes clearly contain dubstep influences. The up-beat ‘Wall’ is drum and bass influenced and ‘The Jester’ possibly contains aspects of European hardstyle. This array of electronic genres underlying heavy rock riffs creates something truly original to the ear – not failing to disappoint in terms of innovation.


Common Dreads is a fantastic album in terms of construction and differentiation from the rest. Enter Shikari have pulled the boundaries of rock and electro even closer than with their debut album. The Common Dreads tour begins in October, after several festival appearances including Reading and Leeds and Glastonbury.

Review by James Murray

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