Enter Shikari is a post-hardcore band formed in 2003 in St Albans, England. The band combines post-hardcore with other genres like electronica, drum and bass, and occasionally dubstep. They have released four studio albums between 2007-2012 to critical acclaim. Enter Shikari is known for incorporating political and social commentary into their lyrics. They have voiced opinions on issues like government overreach and environmental destruction. The band creates in a style that blends rock instrumentation with electronic elements to produce an energetic live show.

1. By Tom Medlock

2.  Enter Shikari are a post hardcore band from St
Albans, formed in 2003.
 The back consist of 4 full time members, singer Rou
Reynolds, lead guitarist Liam ‘Rory’ Clewlow, bass
guitarist Chris Batten and drummer Rob Rolfe.
 Enter Shikari combine post hardcore and various other
heavy metal sub genres with elements of other genres
such as electronica, drum and bass and occasionally
dubstep.

3.  In 1999 the band Enter Shikari was originally called Hybryd and
consisted of Rou on guitar and vocals, Chris on bass and Rob on
drums. Under this name they released a Epcalled ‘Commit No
Nuisance’.
 In 2003 Hybryd changed their name to Enter Shikari and
revolutionised their sound by recruiting guitarist Liam so that
Rou could then focus his time on electronics and singing.
 During 2003 and 2004 the band released three demo EPs which
were only available to buy online and through live shows.
 In August 2006 the band released a video of the single
‘Mothership’ which became the single of the week on the iTunes
store.
 This single was followed a week later by the ‘Sorry You’re Not a
Winner/Ok Time for Plan B’ which charted at number 182 on the
UK singles chart.

4.  The third single to be released off the band’s forthcoming album
was ‘Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour’. It charted at
number 27 on the UK singles chart.
 The band’s debut album, ‘Take to the Skies’, was then released on
March the 19th 2007, it contained re-recordings of many of the
songs that had been released on the EPs and demoes that were
released prior to the album.
 During March 2007, it was announced that the band would play
stages at Download Festival, Reading and Leeds
Festivals, Glastonbury and Oxegen Festival in Ireland amongst
others.
 Also in 2007 the band announced a UK headline tour that
consisted of eleven dates, this also contained their biggest
headline show at the Brixton Academy in London where they
played to 4,921 people.

5.  This UK headline tour was followed up by a headline
tour of North America and a number of shows in
Australia and New Zealand as part of the Big Day Out
Festival.

6.  It was confirmed by NME that Enter Shikari had been working on their
second studio album, Common Dreads, during March 2009 and they
also announced that the band would embark on a UK and Europe
headline tour during 2009.
 On April 15th 2009 ‘Juggernauts’ was played on Radio 1 as part of Zane
Lowe’s ‘Hottest record in the world’ and the single was released on
June 1st.
 Common Dreads was released through Ambush Reality, a record label
that the band created themselves, on June 15th 2009 and debuted at
number 16 in the UK top 40 album chart.
 The album received good reviews including a 5 star review from
Kerrang! Magazine.
 The album was followed by a October/November North American tour
as well as dates at the Australian summer festival Soundwave alongside
bands such as A Day To Remember and Architects. The band then
continued to tour Japan with A Day To Remember as a support band for
their Homesick tour.

7.  On June 14th 2010 Enter Shikari announced that they had
returned to the studio to record a one of track called ‘Destabilise’
which was then released as a download on the 26th of October
2010.
 During June and July 2010 the band took part in the well known
US festival Vans Warped Tour as well as headlining Redfest in
the UK. Following this the band performed at an exclusive show
at the venue Underworld in Camden, London. This show was
filmed and then released for DVD under the name ‘Live From
Planet Earth’.
 After this Enter Shikari had a long run of live shows that
included supporting 30 Seconds To Mars on their ‘Into The Wild
Tour’ and touring the US as part of the ‘The Dead Throne Tour’
with bands such as The Devil Wears Prada and Whitechapel.

8.  On September 8th 2011 the band announced the first single
on their ‘as yet untitled’ third album would be called
Sssnakepit. The single was released on the 20th of
September 2011. Sssnakepit received good reviews
including being played twice in a row on Zane Lowe’s show
as the ‘Hottest record in the world’.
 A leak from UK Magazine Rock Sound revealed that the
bands third studio album would be called ‘A Flash Flood of
Colour’ and would be released on the 9th of January
2012, although due to shipping issues the band moved the
release date back to January 16th.
 On December 5th 2011 the band posted a studio version of
‘Gandhi Mate, Gandhi’ to their Youtube and Facebook
pages, it was also broadcast on Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show.

9.  The band released their third studio album, ‘A Flash Flood of
Colour’ on the 16th of January 2012 and played three album
release shows, tickets were randomly given out to people who
had pre ordered the album. At the end of the first week the
album had reached number 4 in the UK album chart.
 The band began their first tour of ‘A Flash Flood of Colour’ on
March 10th 2012, the tour consisted of dates across mainland
Europe and the United Kingdom, ending with a sold out show at
the Hammersmith Apollo in London on the 23rd of March.
 Soon after the band took to America on the for a 7 week tour
their.
 During summer 2012 the bands also played a variety of festivals
as well as a main stage appearance Reading and Leeds festival.

10.  Studio Album – Take To The Skies (2007):
 Mothership
 Sorry You’re Not A Winner/Ok Time For Plan B
 Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour
 Jonny Sniper
 Compilation – The Zone (2007)
 Studio Album – Common Dreads (2009):
 Juggernauts
 No Sleep Tonight
 Zzzonked
 Compilation – Tribalism (2010):
 Thumper
 DVD – Live From Planet Earth (2011)
 Studio Album – A Flash Flood of Colour (2012):
 Sssnakepit (2011)
 Gandhi Mate, Gandhi (2011)
 Arguing With Thermometers (2012)
 Warm Smiles Do Not Make You Welcome Here (2012)

11.  Ambush reality is an independent record label co-
owned by the members of Enter Shikari, it was created
in 2006. The aim of the record label is to
record, produce and release Enter Shikari’s music and
no one else's.
 The band decided that, in order to tour the United
States, they must join a major record label in
America, in turn Ambush Reality joined Interscope
Records (an American record label founded in 1990).
 As of June 21st 2011 Enter Shikari’s releases in North
America and Canada are released via independent
record label, Hopeless Records.

12.  Take to the Skies:
 Take to the Skies received positive reviews from the critics scoring a 9.1/10 from Ultimate
Guitar, with them claiming that “Take To The Skies is a compelling combination of post
hardcore, metal and trance, the result of which is a raw, uplifting album”, and an 8/10 from
NME.
 Common Dreads:
 Common Dreads, unlike Take to the Skies, has split critics down the middle. Ultimate guitar
rated the album 9.3/10 with the album also receiving a 5K review from Kerrang! Magazine.
 Although the album has its critics, Digital Spy, giving it 3/5, claimed that the album was “hit
and miss” whilst Pete Paphides of The Times described it as “a titanically inadvisable mash-
up between Gallows and John Craven’s Newsround”.
 A Flash Flood of Colour:
 A Flash Flood of Colour received generally good reviews, for example Absolute Punk stated
that “A Flash Flood of Colour is daring, thought provoking, and utterly unpredictable, making
it the first bold record of 2012 and Enter Shikari's defining moment”.
 At Metacritic, a website which assigns a average score after combining many different
reviews, the album received an average score of 75/100, based on 13 reviews, which indicates
“generally favourable reviews”.

13.  I feel that Enter Shikari are a perfect example of how to
combine elements of rock and roll with aspects from
different genres. The huge guitar riffs, found in the
rock genre, alongside drops from the dubstep genre
allow the band to have one of the most electrifying live
performances I have watched to date.

14.  Enter Shikari have claimed that the influences for their music come
from the bands that they saw live when they were younger, in an
interview with Kerrang! Rou said that the main influences were “bands
such as Flatline, Incoherence, Aconite Thrill, Cry for Silence and many
more”.
 As the band grew older the band started to listen to more hardcore
punk, bands like Sick of it All and Bane influenced them to play the
music they did, with Rou saying “their gritty vocals and brutal riffs
giving such an energy it's hard not to storm around the room shaking
your fist while listening to it. There is such an obvious passion that they
take in it that we admire so much”.
 Rou Reynolds also stated that The Prodigy were another band that
influenced the way the band turned out.
 The full interview with Rou and Liam can be found here:
http://www.kerrang.com/blog/2010/02/enter_shikari_week_day_3.htm
l

15.  In a interview with the Independent Rou said that one
of his biggest lyrical influences was The Zeitgeist
Movement (A global nonprofit organization founded
in 2008. It advocates the abolition of money and
private property, and promotes a global socioeconomic
system in which all resources would be equitably and
commonly shared) he says that this movement
inspired him a lot whilst writing their third studio
album ‘A Flash Flood of Colour’, this is linked to their
political standings which I will cover later on in the
powerpoint.

16.  As I stated earlier Enter Shikari use electronic
equipment such as synthesisers to change the sound of
their instruments as well as some kinds of
programming to make music, these are used alongside
instruments associated with the rock and roll genre
such as acoustic drums and electric guitars. For this
reason I feel that Enter Shikari spread themselves
across many genres, the main one being the rock and
roll genre, that me and my group have chosen to
study, but others consisting of electronica, dubstep
and occasionally drum and bass.

17.  Enter Shikari are known for voicing their opinions very well
during live performances and even albums, lets take their
newest album as an example.
 The album ‘A Flash Flood of Colour’ has many songs that
link back to things they do not like about the government.
The album kicks off with the opening track ‘System’ which
is all about a system, in this case the UK
government, which is floored in many ways. The next track
‘Meltdown’ is all about taking back what is ours and
standing up to what we think is wrong, this song also links
back to the Zeitgeist Movement, mentioned earlier in the
powerpoint, with lyrics like “countries are just lines drawn
in the sand with a stick”.

18.  The song ‘Arguing with Thermometers’ is the next one
to have a significant meaning on the album, this song
is all about the international fight over oil, within this
song they are saying how wrong it is and that what
they are doing should be stopped. This can be seen
from the opening verse which goes like this “This is an
expedition, Into the Arctic tundra! This is a sickening
mission, Yeah! Just to spoil and plunder!”.
 Despite all of this the band have stated that the album
was not government motivated.