The Mindsweep by Enter Shikari

Enter Shikari are on the cusp of releasing their fourth full length studio album and it is the sound this
generation has been screaming out for. Famed for abusing genre boundaries and discussing some of the most important topics that we face as planet Earth today, Rou, Rory, Chris and Rob have created a new masterpiece which continues their legacy and it is seriously impressive.

After disappearing for a year or so from the UK, only popping up for the occasional live appearance and cheeky teaser, Enter Shikari are finally unleashing some fresh and fierce fury upon us. The Mindsweep contains arguably some their angriest material yet as Rou screams his way through issues which are governmental, environmental and most importantly, global. The important thing to remember about this post-hardcore mob is that they aren't in this industry for the money, the fame, or the glory; they make the music they do because they are full to the brim with passion and they want to spread messages of positivity and realism to everyone. You don't have to be a fan of their sound but it is important that you give them a chance for their lyrics and ideas alone. One of the best and most aggressive tracks on the album is There's A Price On Your Head and it illustrates my point perfectly: "I am upper middle class, I am living in the past." This song is pure grizzly noise and the lyrics are performed as a battle: a battle which as the lyrics say is one of the past. It's a simple song yet it's one of the most powerful and that is just one reason this album is insane.

The sound of this album, whilst not as widespread as last album A Flash Flood Of Colour, is still BIG. Enter Shikari have evolved their sound once more whilst maintaining their unmistakably raw core. Electronics, percussion and strings still intertwine beautifully, Rou still spits out his lyrics with visceral integrity and gang vocals are still rife and ready to rupture ear drums worldwide. Yet somehow it feels nurtured. It's difficult to criticise this album. From the first time you hear it, you want more and more and it resonates. Like all Enter Shikari material, it makes you think and it makes you want change as much as they do. The Mindsweep isn't just an enjoyable collection of music, it's a record that gives each individual on this planet power and purpose.

"Illness is not an indulgence which you should pay for, nor is it a crime for which you should be punished" states Anaesthetist, the most recent single off the album. This pro-NHS song is seriously strong; it's broken into mainstream daytime radio and it's pricking ears up everywhere. Anaesthetist isn't even the strongest song on the album either. Torn Apart boasts: "There's more variation, more variation, there's more within populations" which speaks volumes when put in the context of the world as a whole. And it has everything you want from an Enter Shikari song: mental electronics and vast sounding riffs. Bonus track Slipshod is a gnarly beast spanning a tiny two minutes but those two minutes will be some of the best of your day. The stand out tracks however are the ones that hug this album at it's top and bottom. The Appeal and The Mindsweep I and The Appeal and The Mindsweep II are just incredible. II takes us back to the most notorious of all Enter Shikari songs, Sorry You're Not Winner, and as a long time fan of this band, it's a massive treat and one which I will gush about every time I hear it. It is however, within the first 2 minutes of this album (during The Appeal and The Mindsweep I), that you realise this album is important and will be a lifelong staple in record collections everywhere.

"This is an appeal. To the struggling and striving stakeholders of this planet, this floating rock we call Earth. Alas that means you, that means everyone of your acquaintance, every figure your eyes skim past in the street, every charlatan still to defeat, every tender face you find solace in - now mimic the mindset William Wallace was in. Dismount, disembark, descend from your existence, blacken your angst and decant your hate. Cause in the long run they’re about as useful as pouring acid onto your dinner plate. To muzzled masses that lead lives of deafening desperation. With Excalibur aloft, King Arthur on the throne, but it’s our minds we gotta wrench out of stone. Don’t be fooled by simplicity, there was never a broadcast made of such urgency, cause at no time before us did we grasp the scope of this emergency. Ladle out love and logic by the boatload, equipped with that cargo you can take any road. Now grab life, seize time, this part is for human kind."

10/10
Listen to: The Appeal and The Mindsweep I, There's A Price On Your Head, Slipshod

The Mindsweep is being streamed via the band's website now and is available to pre-order everywhere that appreciates good music!

Enter Shikari are out on tour in the UK this February with Allusondrugs, Fatherson and Feed The Rhino. Grab the last remaining tickets quick!

And as if that isn't enough the boys will be doing a string of signings as well as spending the day at their one day only Mindsweep store in Camden High Street: more info by following this link.