Enter Shikari - Common Dreads

After releasing Take To The Skies it seems like there are a hundred more bands mixing rock music with dance music and after solid recent releases from The Prodigy and Pendulum the question is can Enter Shikari stand out from the rest?

The answer is yes! This album is fantastic! I honestly did not have high expectations for this because I loved Take To The Skies so much but this is better! The dance elements are mixed and blended with the metal elements more than in previous effort where it seemed like there would be a metal part of a track followed by a dance part.

Opening with the intro of Common Dreads the album bursts in to life with the rave synths of Solidarity then the metal guitars and roaring vocals kick in much like they did on the opening of previous album. Except this is better, much much better. After the rave/metal intro the track then morphs in to a breakdown of choral backing vocals, clean vocals and lots of sounds going on in the background.

Step Up follows and it is a fast punky song with dance synths and a mixture of clean and harsh vocals. Single Juggernauts is up next and vocalist Rou sounds like Mike from The Streets during parts of this song. Musically I think it is one of the weakest tracks on the album but it is an obvious single as it mixes all their elements of metal, dance and clean vocals. The chorus is very catchy and I would imagine this will be getting a lot of airplay. The next track Wall starts with a long intro then bursts in to some drum and bass beats but they are more danceble than heavy. Candidate for the next single I think! Zzzonked has a very Pendulum/Hadouken feel to it as opposed to the metal feel of others. Havoc A is an interlude of dance music that lasts under 2minutes which blends nicely in to No Sleep Tonight which I could imagine live being a hands in the air moment during the chorus! Drum and bass style beats with a huge chorus and subtle synths in the background. Gap In The Fence is pure dance music as is Havoc B but this has metal guitars and harsh vocals coming in towards the end of the track. Antwerpen starts with drum and bass beats then goes in to a catchy shout a long chorus. After a weird intro The Jester goes in to another Pendulum/Hadouken style track. An interlude follows which bursts in to my favourite track Hectic. This starts off with a hardcore metal breakdown, powerful vocals but then calms down in to very ravey synths, dance beats and more Mike Skinner style vocals. The album closes with Fanfare For The Conscious Man which is a lot calmer than the previous track but still quite powerful and is a great way to end the album.

Overall this album is fantastic and is a great mix of rock and dance music, existing fans will love it and it may even convert people from the dance scene in to it!

9 out of 10