“It’s a double-barrelled, double-battery, double-fisted spacehopper!” That’s what a label representative at Japan’s Hostess Entertainment said of Enter Shikari’s brand new album, The Mindsweep. With a release set for January 2015, St Albans self-proclaimed “genreless” quartet today unleashed the hotly anticipated album’s lead single, The Last Garrison. Read on to see what All Things Loud thought of the song.
Opening with eerie sounding, effects-laden guitars, The Last Garrison soon kicks into action as lead vocalist Rou Reynolds shouts “Can you hear the war cry?!” at the top of his voice, before showing us his own war cry. Ferocious shouted vocals intertwine with clean vocals from both Reynolds and bassist Christ Batten, before a full-on Drum’n’Bass breakdown takes centre stage. A calmer mid-section precedes another war cry chant, during which Reynolds proclaims “thank fuck you’re still alive”. As the song breaks down and calms, Reynolds boldly sings “let’s toast the fact that we got this far”, before the pace picks up and the Drum’n’Bass section returns once more. This gradually morphs into a full-on breakbeat section which swiftly brings the song to a close.
Although only 1 song has officially been unveiled from The Mindsweep, it’s starting to become evident that this album will definitely be the double-barrelled, double-batter, double-fisted spacehopper it’s been promised to be. The Last Garrison holds true to the elements that’ve made Enter Shikari the unstoppable force they are today, but it still shows enough new elements to ensure they remain as exciting as ever.
5/5
