Album per day: Day 1

I've seen people promoting this activity over Twitter since the start of February, and now I feel it would be beneficial to me if I were to get in on the act, and I encourage anyone else reading this to follow suit.

The challenge is to listen to an album a day for 30 days. This album must be one that you have never listened to before. You choose the albums, and (optionally) review it after.

I've drawn up a list of the stuff I will be listening to. The selection spans a wide range of genres, and a wide range of eras too; I'm looking back at classic records that have shaped the scene we are a part of, as well as looking towards the future to see if there are some acts out there that can make a similar impact. It'll be fun, so let's use the hashtag #albumperday to share our thoughts on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram etc.

Artist: Enter Shikari

Album: The Mindsweep

Released: 2015

I decided to ease myself in with this challenge, so I chose a record that I should probably make an effort to listen to, as I will be seeing this St Albans bunch live next week.

Enter Shikari have never done anything by the rulebook. If you handed them a rulebook, they'd be the type to study it thoroughly, only to then question your moral fibre, and then proceed to dropkick the book out of the nearest window. This new record, their fourth album, picks up where A Flash Flood of Colour left off with more politically charged "electronicore" anthems. I've never been a big fan of vocalist Rou Reynolds' middle class whining, but on some of their tracks, it begins to make you think about the bigger picture. Anaesthetist is easily my favourite song on The Mindsweep; definitely taking influence from dance giants The Prodigy, but still keeping the essence of what makes Enter Shikari so unique. The downtuned guitars and gang vocals accompany the subject matter of the song, which commentates on the importance of the NHS (which helps explain the decision for Reynolds to sport a t-shirt with the words NHS NOT TRIDENT emblazoned on the front at concerts over recent years). This has been the most recent single released by the band, and I thought was a more impressive effort than The Last Garrison, which begins impeccably, but then becomes rather forgettable once the first chorus drops. Basically, whenever the lyrics "Can you hear the war-cry?!" are yelled, you know you're at a good part of the song. My only criticism of Anaesthetist is that it could've been longer than just under three minutes; I found myself wanting more.

Elsewhere, Never Let Go Of The Microscope shines brightly with its atmospheric sounds, but as with other Shikari tracks, it isn't that simple; it's brutal and beautiful at the same time. There are glimmers of metalcore around this record, but in no way is it as prominent as it once was in Take To The Skies. Nevertheless, with each record, Enter Shikari have opted to shy away from the metalcore tag and only show very subtle hints of it on The Mindsweep. Listening to Dear Future Historians... right now, it shows just how far this band have come. A swooping piano ballad that grows into the style of alternative metal we've come to expect of Shikari, it is a definite highlight of the album. 

These guys have come on leaps and bounds since Take To The Skies hit the shelves in 2006, but it will take something special to top that record, in my opinion. Is this record that? No. Is it good? Definitely.

7/10
Recommended songs: Anaesthetist, Never Let Go Of The Microscope