Enter Shikari "Take to the Skies" Sounds like: The future, with metal.
London-based Enter Shikari's first full-length release, "Take to the Skies," presents a band unsure of where its talent lies.
The band blends electronic sounds with a hardcore and metal vibe through the guitars and drums. By striving to create transitions between songs, the flow of the album is consistent, but never boring. They also include interludes between songs and an opening consisting solely of instrumentals that drives home the album's calculated cohesion.
The band's primary problem can be found in its vocals. For a vast majority of the noninstrumental songs, the band puts great effort into forcing the band members who sing to do so in each song. This ranges from screaming metal to alternative vocalwork and finally, to a small chorus. The screaming metal rarely works and puts the vocalist in the forefront rather than the instrumentals, where the band truly exceeds.
"Adieu," a later track on the album, shows some insight to the band's strength. The vocalists do not take away from the instruments, and they do not force the rest of the vocalists into the song.
Although "Take to the Skies" works on some levels, the problems within it ultimately drag the album down. The overused and forced vocals detract from the instruments and sap the band of its strength. For Enter Shikari and vocals, less is definitely more.
-J.B.
