Enter Shikari - A Flash Flood of Colour

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They're mad as hell

On the surface, Enter Shikari's molten brew of shouty vocals, agitated drum `n' bass, and techno metal may seem comically dated but their concerns are thoroughly modern. Polemist in chief Roughton Reynolds rains down a thousand lyrical blows about evil banks, corrupt government, rampant consumerism, and the damn injustice of it all.

He doesn't quite have the eloquence of say, The Manic Street Preachers and whether Enter Shikari are "4 Real" comes into question on Gandhi Mate Gandhi in which Reynolds' impassioned state of the world address turns to boggle-eyed Tourettes until his band mates intervene to say, "calm the **** down, remember Gandhi." It's a very funny moment on what is a brutally austere album but are these boys 'aving a hoot or are they really the house band of the Occupy movement?

Elsewhere, the spirit of mid-period Prodigy is revived to pulverising effect on SSSnakepit, a song which delivers metal crunch and relentless drum `n' bass. Stalemate stalls the frenetic pace with an almost serene ballad decrying the perilous state of the planet but Reynolds is merely a Mike Skinner sound-a-like on sappy closing track Constellations. Rage against the espresso machine anyone?

Alan Corr

Tracklisting: System, . . . Meltdown, SSSnakepit, Search Party, Arguing with Thermometers, Stalemate, Gandhi Mate, Gandhi, Warm Smiles Do Not Make You Welcome Here, Pack of Thieves, Hello Tyrannosaurus, Meet Tyrannicide, Constellations