Enter Shikari – Take To The Skies
Record Label: Ambush Reality/Tiny Evil Records
Release Date: October 30, 2007
A fellow reviewer from a much “pickier” site once bemoaned those who had problems with long albums. He cited the almighty ability to create a playlist, or, God forbid, song deletion. I disagree with this logic. If you don’t like chapter four of a book, you don’t skip it; you push through. An album should be viewed in its entirety. The downfalls of a few songs shouldn’t be looked over, for they seriously hurt the overall appeal of a record. So if a record has many, very unnecessary songs, it’s a problem. I shouldn’t have to create my own abridged version. I want to hit play and get back to stealing lunch money from high school kids (or whatever I was doing). Take To The Skies falls victims to, among other things, interlude-itis. Enter Shikari craft some fun-loving synthcore gems, but their luster is deadened by clutter and, among other things, unbearable accents. Much like I just repeated sentence structures (this time it was to be annoying, previous times it was to be “clever”), Enter Shikari take a formula and stick to it. To the end. To the death. To my death. Hehe.
Saying Enter Shikari has an identity crisis seems too tame. At points you’ll be forcefully banging your brain holder (“Enter Shikari), while at others you’ll be reluctantly dancing in front of everyone you know (“Johnny Sniper”). A few songs do a pretty dandy job of mixing both (“Mothership”). If I lived in a perfect world (and, perhaps, had a steady A&R job), I’d choose the latter style for ES. The pubescent yelps and grindcore-y growls seem out of place, even amongst the relentless drums and occasional math-rock guitar riff. There are plenty of times while listening to harder music that I try to scream along. I usually end up sounding like a feisty, mutated cat. I then think to myself, “Just leave it to the pros, Blake.” I could say the same thing about Enter Shikari's vocalists.
You might get past the sub-par screams. You may even deal with the way-too-long-way-too-dull breakdowns. But there is no reason anyone should enjoy the overuse of synthesizer on Take To The Skies. Since these electronics are basically Enter Shikari’s only differentiating point, and I hate them, this review should end. It won’t, though. Repeating, reverberating, (w)retched synth notes ruin a decent heavy section in “Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour…” “No Sssweat” morphs into some sort of haunted carnival/electro-pop massacre. “OK, Time For Plan B” takes 80’s-inspired organs and makes the road to a fulfilling breakdown quite treacherous. Putting a Pitbull in a V-neck sweater might make him cute, but he’ll still bite your fingers clean off.
Take To The Skies is bad, not horrible. If I had any friends with ironic Nintendo tattoos or egg carton bookshelves, this would be our party music. Take To The Skies was created with such gatherings in mind (gang vocals are donated by guys named Ben Shute and Ian Shortshaft, among others). It’s fun but it won’t last, which stands in direct opposition to the words Enter Shikari choose to leave us with: “And still we will be here, standing like statues.” Just a smidge optimistic.
Recommended If You Like: Fightstar, Flood Of Red, shooting bullets in steel rooms, Exit Avenue + angst, clay
jees man you are churning reviews out like...butter? im out of comparisons this morning, but you are a machine nonetheless. And each review is quality somehow. Props.
i dont know guys, i can see the dislike for this album, as a whole, and i can see the beef you have with individual songs..
BUT, i will argue, that what if you are in that dancecore kinda mood? and you want that cheesy breakdown? ive listened to this album for a while now, and its not as bad as you say..at least not in the 60's..
your review blake was clever, so yes, props to you..
anyway, for what ES does, they do it well..i dont know how much techno core you know, because i dont know that much, but this does fill a niche in my music library..
they are 95% live show. They have a great live presence.
ok, no, stop. "Their live show rules" is a synonym for "they fucking suck". If a band doesn't sound good on record, why would me seeing them live change my mind? So they can jump around a lot, whoopie. The music is still bad.
i think this album is amazing, i love it and i am in the music business so yeah. its great, very creative and i can see why some may not like it, but its different than the majority of metal and grindcore so i think it deserves at least an 8 out of 10
yo seriously Blake you don't know what the fuck your talking about i mean yeah they have a few unneccesary fillers but this album is a monumental success for the british hardcore scene. The syle enter shikari has crafted brings together hardcore kids for their breakdowns, girls for their poppy parts, and rave/dance kids all together. Its fucking hard to do that, I'm an american living in london and i've seen these guys twice and each time they blow me away. The gang vocals, claps on ok time for plan b and breakdowns r made for their live show and I can't compare anything w/ there live show. And the Rau's fucking inward screams are amazing they fit so well and no other band throws in those screams in this genre.
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