Twenty years and seven albums for Enter Shikari!
Created in 2003 after four years of existence under the name of Hybryd, the British band composed of Roughton « Rou » Reynolds (vocals/keyboards), Liam « Rory » Clewlow (guitar/backing vocals), Chris « Batty C » Batten (bass/backing vocals) and Rob Rolfe (drums) announced in 2023 the release of A Kiss For The Whole World, by SO Recordings and Ambush Reality.
I confess that I only know the band by reputation, because of their live performances, and one can quickly imagine the energy the four musicians can spread on stage as soon as A Kiss For The Whole World, the first track, which alternates soft but playful parts with vivid bursts with motivating Electro sounds. Saturated vocals and a jerky rhythm lead us into (pls) set me on fire, a slightly darker, but equally unifying composition before the band becomes more accessible with It Hurts, a more rhythmic but also more danceable track. Modern influences make the track catchy before giving way to heavier Trap roots on Leap into the Lightning, a composition where elements follow one another to give this very loaded track a raw energy. On the final part, screams allow the band to get back to their Metalcore influences before feed yøur søul, an Electro interlude, comes to offer us an energetic and frantic part by leading us to Dead Wood, where the melancholic voice mixes with strangely sweet and playful orchestrations. Intensity slowly grows, then turns into a heavy but bouncy and unifying rhythm on the final, before the band offers us again its heavy and aggressive Trap influences mixed with its Post-Hardcore basis on Jailbreak, one of the tracks that will probably be the most effective to carry the crowd into their universe. Bloodshot brings the catchy and motivating Electro elements back, followed by Bloodshot (Coda), a similarly toned outro which gives us a moment of respite before goldf?sh ~ blows us away with its skillful mix of heavy Trap, lively Post-Hardcore and catchy vocals. The band continues its crazy dance with Giant Pacific Octopus (i don’t know you anymore) and its… well, original sounds, which will mix all the band’s broadest and most complementary influences to pace this unifying anthem for the audience, before closing the album with giant pacific octopus swirling off into infinity…, a more soothing modern outro which will indeed leave us drifting towards nothingness.
Enter Shikari is a ball of energy, it is undeniable. Between modernity and diversified sounds, meeting in a wave of catchy riffs, A Kiss For The Whole World can only satisfy its audience.
80/100