A Flash Flood Of Colour

Since first stepping onto the stages of a multitude of heaving pubs and clubs across Europe, Brit metal rule-breakers Enter Shikari have, much like a tone deaf kid with two left feet, been resolutely marching to their own beat. A Flash Flood Of Colour is their third album and once again it sees them channel their inner Baron Frankenstein in an effort to create a monster all of their very own. Employing guitars, synths and gang vocals, the St. Albans’ quartet flirt with hardcore, house, dub, screamo and hip hop themes and top it all off with some more than welcome pop melodies to create a thrilling record that’s sees the band firmly establish themselves as one of rock’s most interesting acts.
Hearteningly it’s not just the music that bucks the trends: lyrically A Flash Flood Of Colour sees Enter Shikari (unlike some modern metal acts) mature into a band with something to say and over the course of 11 tracks they rage against the machine with the best of them. “Fuck all flags and fuck all nationalities,” declares frontman Rou Reynolds on the sabre-rattling album highlight ‘…Meltdown,’ as he paints us a picture of unity and understanding (think ‘Ebony And Ivory’ only with chugging, hardcore breakdowns instead of tinkling pianos and a tonne of cheese); meanwhile on the exceedingly tunesome ‘Stalemate’, the band debut their first ballad and do a damn good job with it too.
While A Flash Flood Of Colour may be a little too apparently schizoid for some, listeners with an open mind will love the multi-textured opus and it’s a much needed injection of excitement into the sometime predictable world of rock and metal.