Line #47 Music/EnterShikari


1	[[quoteright:262:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/42291_2686.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:262:From L to R: Rory, Rou, Rob, Chris]]
3	Enter Shikari are a British four-piece {{Electronicore}} / AvantGardeMetal band. They could probably be described as post-hardcore, although they also have elements of punk, metal, screamo and many different sub-genres of electronic music, and even occasionally hip hop.
4
5	[[AC: Members:]]
6	* [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal Rou Reynolds]] - lead vocals, programming, synthesizer, keyboards, acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, trumpet, percussion
7	* Liam "Rory" Clewlow - lead guitar, vocals, percussion, keyboards, synthesizer
8	* Chris "Batty C" Batten - bass, vocals, synthesizer, keyboards, percussion
9	* [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal Rob Rolfe]] - drums, backing vocals, percussion
10
11	As of this writing, they've released seven albums: ''Take to the Skies'' in 2007, ''Common Dreads'' in 2009, ''A Flash Flood of Colour'' in 2012, ''The Mindsweep'' in 2015, ''The Spark'' in 2017, ''Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible'' in 2020, and ''A Kiss for the Whole World'' in 2023. They also released two compilations of B-sides and demos, ''The Zone'' in 2007 and ''Tribalism'' in 2010, and as of 2013, they have begun a {{dubstep}} side project called Shikari Sound System.
12
13	They're named after a boat that Rou's uncle had. "Shikari" [[BilingualBonus also means]] '[[AGoodNameForARockBand the hunter]]' in Hindi.
14
15	!! Discography
16	* ''Take to the Skies'' (2007)
17	* ''Common Dreads'' (2009)
18	* ''A Flash Flood of Colour'' (2012)
19	* ''The Mindsweep'' (2015)
20	* ''The Spark'' (2017)
21	* ''Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible'' (2020)
22	* ''A Kiss for the Whole World'' (2023)
23	----
24	!! Sorry, You're Not A Troper:
25	* AlbumTitleDrop: ''Common Dreads'' is title dropped in both the eponymous intro track and "Solidarity" ("Here tonight / I clock a thousand heads / Here to unite / Through common dreads"). The previous album, ''Take To The Skies'', also gets mentioned in "No Sleep Tonight" ("You and me, we're gonna take / To the skies, for a common sake").
26	** ''Take to the Skies'' is also name-dropped in a non-album single from 2007, "Kickin' Back on the Surface of Your Cheek".
27	** ''A Flash Flood of Colour'' gets one in "Warm Smiles Do Not Make You Welcome Here".
28	** ''Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible'' is repeated at the end of "Waltzing off the Face of the Earth (I. Crescendo)".
29	** ''The Zone'' is referenced in "Enter Shikari".
30	** "Dead Wood" references ''Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible''.
31	** The eponymous track in ''A Kiss For The Whole World''.
32	* AnimatedMusicVideo: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAVne8dOzEA Thumper]]" is a black-and-white performance video, with doodle-style drawings of the band rotoscoped over it.
33	** The music video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwe0uVrjihA THE GREAT UNKNOWN]]" features a [[CyberPunk dark, futuristic]], [[NeonCity neon-infused cityscape]] with different-coloured light images depicting the band.
34	** The music video for "T.I.N.A.".
35	* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: The song "Bank of England" is about failures with the marketing system in RealLife. It's complete with counteragruing Adam Smith's infamous "invisible hand" argument, telling the listener "the invisible hand no longer guides, it chokes".
36	* ArcWords: ''And still we will be here, standing like statues.''
37	** Also, at the spoken-word beginning of "Radiate", all coupled with Rob's ferocious blast-beating: ''To take away our expression is to impoverish our existence.''
38	* AtomicFBomb: The very first word on ''Take to the Skies''.
39	** Comes up right before both choruses in "thē kĭñg".
40	* AudienceParticipationSong:
41	** You are legally obligated to join in with the famous three claps to "Sorry, You're Not a Winner".
42	** Rou often changes the last two lines of "Havoc A" to "hold tight insert name of place they are playing at, 'cause you're crucial".
43	* BadassCreed: From "Juggernauts".
44	-->We'll do what we've always done
45	-->Shut our eyes and hope for the best...
46	-->NO! We're gonna face this
47	-->And step out onto the tracks
48	-->Stare it right in the face
49	-->THOU SHALL NOT PASS!
50	** In the opening section of "Sssnakepit" this definitely counts:
51	-->What's the one thing that has more speed
52	-->More strength
53	-->And goes deeper than us?
54	-->A NUCLEAR SUBMARINE.
55	* TheBackwardsR: Greek, actually. See XtremeKoolLetterz further down the page.
56	* CallBack: Plenty to go around.
57	** The song "Solidarity" off ''Common Dreads'' ends with a chorus singing "''and still we will be here / standing like statues''", a phrase which is repeated multiple times during ''Take to the Skies''.
58	** "System...", the intro to ''A Flash Flood of Colour'' starts with the same synth as "Common Dreads", which is the same synth that closed ''Take To The Skies''.
59	** The vocal effect on the line "OPEN THEIR MINDS" from "Gandhi Mate, Gandhi" is the same as "AND NOW THE FLOODGATES WILL OPEN" from "Solidarity".
60	** The line "This is no white abode" from "Wall" on ''Common Dreads'' harks back to "My white abode, do you remember my white abode" from "Sorry, You're Not a Winner".
61	** The pre-chorus to stand-alone single “Stop the Clocks” uses the same guitar melody as the chorus to “No Sleep Tonight”.
62	** In the song “Crossing the Rubicon” from ''Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible'', the line “but we can’t turn back it’s a labyrinth” is accompanied by the same synths as those used in “Labyrinth”.
63	** Two in "Dead Wood": to "(pls) set me on fire" and to ''Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible''.
64	** "Jailbreak" references "The Dreamer's Hotel".
65	** "Giant Pacific Octopus" references "Live Outside".
66	* CapitalismIsBad: Occurs so often that it's hard to find a song that doesn't at least nod to it.
67	* ContinuityNod: "Havoc A" has one to "Acid Nation".
68	-->It's another day in the acid nation
69	-->Expected to gulp down hindrance
70	* {{Corpsing}}: Rou is visibly trying very hard not to fall victim to this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2Z5D8ZU9-4 whilst singing the band's cover]] version of Music/CarlyRaeJepsen's "Call Me Maybe".
71	* CoverVersion: They've covered Music/KidCudi's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIgbw4Un1dU Day N Nite]]" and Faithless' "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab9SY304_uQ Insomnia]]".
72	** They’ve even performed an [[UnpluggedVersion acoustic cover]]/mashup version of Oasis’ “Wonderwall” and their own song “[[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mi0Mqt6nZZ0 Live Outside]]” (starts around 3:10).
73	* FadingIntoTheNextSong: Used a lot by them on the first two albums, but ''Take to the Skies'' is extremely noticeable, due to the Interludes. It's very satisfying to play "Interlude 3," a breakcore intro to "Sorry, You're Not a Winner," then the song itself, then "Interlude 4," the Jonny Sniper fanfare, and then "Jonny Sniper". A nice group of tracks.
74	** "Torn Apart" fades into "interlude".
75	** Also applies to a lot of songs on both ''Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible'' and ''A Kiss For The Whole World''.
76	* FauxRetro: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeZicbHE1L8 Jonny & the Snipers]].
77	* FeedMe: Rou can get pretty [[LargeHam hammy]] during the intro to "The Jester", as seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0FIcLO0FzI here]] (footage from the ''Live from Planet Earth'' DVD).
78	* FunWithAcronyms: as seen with the third single from ''Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible'', "T.I.N.A." (There Is No Alternative).
79	* GenreRoulette
80	* GenreShift: Arguably. ''Common Dreads'' is a lot [[LighterAndSofter lighter]] musically than ''Take to the Skies''.
81	** Then there's ''A Flash Flood of Colour'', which is heavily Dubstep influenced and has a lot more of an electronic dance feel.
82	** Both ''The Spark'' and ''Nothing Is True & Everything is Possible'' are much lighter than even ''Common Dreads'', [[NostalgiaFilter much to the chagrin of some old school fans]].
83	* GreenAesop: Happens A LOT. Enter Shikari purposely include one in every album.
84	** "Jonny Sniper" from ''Take to the Skies'' is about protecting the Earth.
85	** ''Common Dreads'' has an environmentalist message running through it.
86	** "Arguing with Thermometers" from ''A Flash Flood of Colour'' is about climate change scepticism.
87	** "Myopia" from the Mindsweep is about lack of action taken against climate change and how it's important to take action because all living things are related.
88	** "Elegy of Extinction" is an instrumental track portraying life on Earth with music. It devolves into LastNoteNightmare to signify climate change.
89	* HarshVocals: Rou likes doing them a lot. ManOfAThousandVoices indeed.
90	* IAmVeryBritish: See ManOfAThousandVoices below.
91	* InsistentTerminology: They're a socially conscious band. Rou does not like them being called a "political" band.
92	* IronicNickname: Fans dubbed the band's old tour van as the Shikari Ferrari. It's hardly a Ferrari, more a battered old Post Office van.
93	* LastNoteHilarity: Rory laughing at the end of "Sssnakepit" and the "Louis Armstrong" noise.
94	* LastNoteNightmare: The last few seconds of "[[https://youtu.be/eGl21lZsr5A Labyrinth]]" are rather... chilling.
95	** The final few seconds of the orchestral piece “[[https://youtu.be/opXZ8vgxgs0 Elegy For Extinction]]” brings you down from the soaring highs of the rest of the song towards a crashing, burning, [[https://twitter.com/RouReynolds/status/1253042871764160512 child scaring]] conclusion.
96	*** This conclusion acts to enforce [[GreenAesop the message of the piece]], or as [[https://twitter.com/roureynolds/status/1253042171172831232?lang=en Rou puts it]].
97	* LighterAndSofter: ''The Spark'', at least compared to the material before and after it.
98	* LongRunnerLineUp: The band have had the same lineup for 20 years (as of 2023).
99	* LyricalDissonance:
100	** "Johnny Sniper" is an uplifting song... [[GreenAesop with a very serious environmental message]].
101	** "Hectic" becomes darker lyrically in the last chorus, whilst the song's upbeat trance feel carries on.
102	** "Gap in the Fence" eventually morphs into an uplifitng House track. Although the majority of the lyrics have already been sung by this point, it is definitely a case of this trope as the lyrics are incredibly dark and serious.
103	* ManOfAThousandVoices: Rou can do: clean singing, rapping, [[MetalScream screaming]] (his primary style) and, occasionally, DeathMetal-like HarshVocals. He is easily one of the greater examples of this trope in the entire metal scene, along with artists such as alt-metal vocalist Music/MikePatton, avant-garde musician [[Music/DirEnGrey Tooru "Kyo" Nishimura]], experimental multi-instrumentalist Music/DevinTownsend, nu-metal vocalist [[Music/{{Korn}} Jonathan Davis]], MelodicDeathMetal singer [[Music/ScarSymmetry Christian Alvestam]] and progressive deathgrind musician [[Music/CattleDecapitation Travis Ryan.]]
104	** Chris has been known to put on a [[EvilBrit "posh" British accent]] when playing the role of a "government" or "establishment" figure ("Fanfare for the Conscious Man" and "Gandhi Mate, Gandhi" being two obvious examples).
105	* MetalScream: All three types. And in spades.
106	-->GO TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS!!!
107	-->THAT THIS IS THE END!!!
108	* MindScrew: "System..." could count as this as it's entirely metaphorical.
109	* MinisculeRocking: "The Paddington Frisk" is 1 minute and 24 seconds long.
110	* MoodWhiplash: On ''Take to the Skies'', the relatively soft, feelgood "Jonny Sniper" is followed by calm acoustic ballad "Adieu"... and then comes "OK, Time for Plan B", a fast-paced, mosh-worthy heavy tune. It's still awesome, though.
111	** In ''The Spark'', the heartfelt and mournful, piano-based "Airfield", in which Rou delves into his personal struggles of the past years is followed immediately by the raucous, jungle-grime-rock mashup of "Rabble Rouser".
112	** Loud and energetic "Leap Into The Lighting" and "feed your soul" are right before quiet and somber "Dead Wood".
113	* MundaneMadeAwesome: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLeg_5ljVcA official promo video]] for "Radiate" has them simply stand there doing nothing, but all other things you'd expect in a music video are still there.
114	* NewSoundAlbum:
115	** ''Common Dreads'' added the dubstep influences and political lyrics which have become part of their SignatureStyle.
116	** ''A Flash Flood of Colour'' doesn't sound ''anything'' like the two albums before it.
117	** Neither do ''The Spark'' or ''Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible'' for that matter, with the latter even including one ''fully orchestral'' track.
118	* NoTitle: Used a few times on ''Take to the Skies'', with tracks 1, 5, 9, 11, 13 and 17 untitled on the track listing. However, track 1 is usually referred to as "Stand Your Ground, This Is Ancient Land", tracks 5, 11 and 13 as Interludes 1, 2 and 3 respectively, and tracks 9 and 17 as "Reprise One" and "Reprise Two", the final track also known as "Closing".
119	** "interlude" on ''The Mindsweep''.
120	** "Reprise 3" on ''Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible''.
121	* NostalgiaGoggles: "Hectic" is this in song form. [[LyricalDissonance But not completely...]]
122	-->Oh those halcyon days and halcyon nights
123	-->Before we began to realise that things aren't right
124	* PerformanceVideo: All of their music videos feature the band performing the song at some point. Some with an audience ("Sssnakepit", "Sorry, You're Not a Winner" and "Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour" for example), some without ("Destabilise", "Radiate" and "Quelle Surprise", as examples).
125	* PissTakeRap: Rou likes this, and surprisingly, [[MotorMouth he's actually good at rapping]]. In fact, most of the intros have rapped vocals instead of Rou's signature screams.
126	* PrecisionFStrike: A pretty good one in "[[SelfTitledAlbum Enter Shikari]]", the first song (not counting instrumental opener "Stand Your Ground, This Is Ancient Land") on their first album, and the VERY FIRST WORD is Rou screaming "SHIT!".
127	** Arguably, the line "''We need to FUCKING ERUPT''" in "Destabilise".
128	** "No Sssweat" with "You do this EVERY FUCKING TIME!"
129	*** "[[TheStinger ...do this one more time and I'll bite your FUCKING FINGERS OFF!]]"
130	** From "Anaesthetist": "You sold us short! You will not profit off our health....STEP THE FUCK BACK!!"
131	** From "Goldfish": "You’re just a fucking goldfish".
132	* QueerMedia: If the lyrics weren't already clear enough, [[https://genius.com/Enter-shikari-satellites-lyrics#about Rou confirmed in an interview]] that "satellites* *" was written as "an exercise in empathy towards the LGBTQ community".
133	** Some fans were particularly incensed by [[GayAesop the message of the song]], though Rou was [[https://twitter.com/roureynolds/status/1256215481272414214?lang=en-gb more than happy to see the back of them]].
134	* RecordProducer: The band have worked with Music/SikTh guitarist Dan Weller since ''Common Dreads''.
135	* SiameseTwinSongs: A fair amount of songs:
136	** "Common Dreads" flows into "Solidarity".
137	** "System..." flows into "...Meltdown".
138	** "Marionettes (I. The Discovery of Strings)" and "Marionettes (II. The Ascent)".
139	** "Bloodshot" and "Bloodshot (Coda)".
140	** "Leap Into The Lightning" and "feed yøur søul".
141	** "Giant Pacific Octopus" and "giant pacific octopus swirling off into infinity…".
142	* SopranoAndGravel: At the end of "Sorry, You're Not a Winner", Chris sings the line "Insert your coin" cleanly, then Rou growls it.
143	* SpokenWordInMusic: The intro to ''Common Dreads'' and "System...". Also happens in the beginning of "Jailbreak".
144	* StealthParody: "Gandhi Mate, Gandhi" is so [[LargeHam outlandish]] it could very well be this - the song contains every single Shikari cliche known to man and some very silly lyrics. The band also re-enact the part where they all get Rou to calm down mid-rant [[http://youtu.be/W0o0uWJbS1s LIVE]], to hilarious effect.
145	* StudioChatter:
146	** "Zzzonked" opens with a clip of Rou complaining: "These wars are directly out of order, you get me? They're past their sell-by date serious. I don't think any of you fucking get me. Listen." Cue MetalScream.
147	** In "Gandhi Mate, Gandhi", Rou's bandmates try to get him to calm down whilst he is in mid-rant.
148	* StuffBlowingUp: In the video for "Jonny Sniper", the Shikari Ferrari gets blown up.
149	* SubduedSection: In "Sorry, You're Not a Winner" and "Destabilise", among others. "Adieu" is one for the most part of the song, before the guitars and drums kick in.
150	** Also, "Destabilise", "Quelle Surprise" and "Radiate". Hell, that's pretty common in ES's songs.
151	* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "Adieu" and "Gap in the Fence".
152	** "Constellations" counts as well.
153	* TitleOnlyChorus: "Return to Energiser" and "Warm Smiles Do Not Make You Welcome Here".
154	* VaguenessIsComing: The lyrics to multiple songs in ''Nothing is True & Everything is Possible'' mention that they can feel "it" coming, that it's getting closer and can be felt in the air. Judging by the albums themes, "it" is likely societal change or revolution.
155	* XtremeKoolLetterz: Their 'Greek' logo from the ''Common Dreads'' era counts, in text form looks like ΣΠTΣ℞ SHᶲKΔ℞ᶲ. Pre-''The Mindsweep'', they were also fond of adding extra letters to one song on each album, like "No Sssweat", "Zzzonked" and "Sssnakepit".
156	** Almost every song in ''Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible'' features either additional symbols, fancy letter accents, or selective capitalisation, most notably in three of the album's four singles: "{ The Dreamer's Hotel }", "thē kĭñg", and "satellites* *".
157	** Carries on in ''A Kiss For The Whole World'' with "feed yøur søul" and "Goldfĭsh ~"
158	----

Context Music / EnterShikari