HAZ-MAT SUITS AT THE READY; NEW ENTER SHIKARI TRACK 'RADIATE'

Never ones to, you know, slow down, Enter Shikari have written, recorded and made a video for a new track. Named Radiate, it's classic Shikari - lyrically, calling out on the flaws of society in an anthemic way, amid a backdrop of crashing guitars and bouncing synthesisers, all the while ebbing and flowing between ranting and more sombre interludes. Give it a few listens, it'll grow on you. 

HOLY MASSIVE DOWNLOAD ANNOUNCEMENT BATMAN!

More than 30 bands were promised for the latest Download Festival line-up announcement, and more than 30 have been delivered. A titanic 37, in fact. And so now, courtesy of Metal Hammer for alphabetising them, here are all 37 in their respective glories.

Airbourne
Amon Amarth
Asking Alexandria
Black Dogs
Buffalo Summer
Cancer Bats
Converge
Down
Earthtone 9
Enter Shikari
Five Finger Death Punch
Goldsboro
Hacktivist
Hardcore Superstar
Heaven’s Basement
HellYeah
The Hives
Huntress
I AM I
In This Moment
Jimmy Eat World
Korn
Last Witness
Limp Bizkit
Motionless In White
Parkway Drive
The Sword
Three Doors Down
UFO
Vision of Disorder
Walking Papers
Young Guns



Don't try and tell me there isn't a single band in that list that makes you happy enough for a little bit of wee to come out. I DARES YE. And there's no BVB, so yay. 
Here's the official poster, to remind you of the rest of the freaking awesome line-up.

VLOG #1, AWARDS SEASON SUMMARY

The inaugural theNOISE Music Awards have come to a close, as has 2012, so thank you to everybody for reading and Tweeting  - it all helps, and I'm very grateful! Now, sit back and enjoy my first attempt at a vlog! The video quality is pretty bollocks and  I need to do something about it, but here we go...

As a final note for 2012 then, here's a rundown of how shit went down...

FALLEN HERO OF 2012; Mitch Lucker of Suicide Silence
A tribute over an award; RIP Mitch, you will be missed by the legions of SS fans everywhere.

BEST LIVE BAND; Marmozets

BEST EP/MINI-ALBUM; Marmozets; VEXED

BEST SONG; Muse; SURVIVAL

BEST BAND; Enter Shikari

BEST ALBUM; Enter Shikari; A FLASH FLOOD OF COLOUR

Happy New Year! x

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2012

It's arrived! The award I give the most importance to, because album reviews have been, are, and are to be, the backbone of theNOISE as it continues to exist. And the top spot was even harder to choose than Best Band; so much so that for the last couple of weeks since I began considering the top 10, the top 3 have changed around at least 8 times. And, even up to the point of writing this I changed the top 2 a fair few times. But I'm happy with my final choice. Well, obviously, as I've decided to take it to press finally. But anyway, please keep your arms inside the car at all times, the rollercoaster of excitement that is my album chart of 2012 is about to start...

10. The Gaslight Anthem; HANDWRITTEN

Beautifully written as ever, a sparkling album of gravelly rock and roll. 

9. Young Guns; BONES

 A band with an uncanny knack for producing anthemic songs, their 2nd effort ticks all the boxes on the boxes on the 'British Rock Gem' application form. 

8. Parkway Drive; ATLAS

 Brutal, moody and deeply thoughtful, this is metalcore's finest at the top of their game. 
Review

7. Deftones; KOI NO YOKAN

 Like being hit by a tidal wave in slow-mo - powerful, destructive but simultaneously sombre and beautiful.

6. Rolo Tomassi; ASTRAEA

 A cracking album, full of carefully orchestrated chaos.
Review

5. The Chariot; ONE WING

 Experimetal (see what I did there) at its absolute finest; ballistic and remarkably inventive, and above all brilliant.
Review

4. While She Sleeps; THIS IS THE SIX

 A pure metal record, deep with heavy brutality, contrasting melody and raw emotion. Stonking debut.
Review

3. Muse; THE 2ND LAW

 Diverse, over-the-top, clever and emotional; the height of modern prog.
Review

2. Baroness; YELLOW AND GREEN

Simply stunning. Intricately powerful throughout, a really special album. 
Review

1. Enter Shikari; A FLASH FLOOD OF COLOUR

 The jewel in the Shikari crown; thought-provoking and well-crafted with such a wide range of sound that they deserve to be a genre in their own right. 

It was nip and tuck between Baroness and Shikari for yonks. But I settled for Shikari in the end because while I could not separate the albums by merit of how good they were - both near-perfect in their own ways - I in the end judged it by how purely addicted I had been to the albums. Put it this way; I still don't pay for Spotify because I'm a tight bastard, and when AFFOC came out on January 16th, I exhausted the play count by that Monday afternoon and bought a copy in the evening (I spent the day looking for my bank card...). It's a triumph of an album, blending genres like there's no tomorrow (should've written this on December 20th) from dubstep to metalcore to beautiful pseudo-ballad (Constellations). So that's why it's theNOISE's Album of 2012. 

While I'm at it, some honourable mentions to the bands that didn't make it into the Top 10/that I meant to give time to reviewing but never got round to, and that had I been more organised/better at running a blog, would have had a place in an expanded countdown:

• Gojira; L'Enfant Sauvage
• Gallows; Gallows
• The Killers; Battle Born
• Neurosis; Honor Found In Decay
• Pulled Apart By Horses; Tough Love
• Architects; Daybreaker

And many more, probably. Stay tuned for my first vlog, to bring things neatly to a close! Hopefully.



BAND OF 2012

Well well then. The end of awards season is almost upon us, with this, the penultimate award to be...awarded...

Some of these awards have been easier to choose than others, but this one may be the most difficult. There have been lots of bands that have all had memorable/awesome/all of the above years, but ultimately there can only be one. Rather than do a conventional countdown, I will introduce the candidates and explain why I picked them as candidates. On with the show...

1. BARONESS; It's been a tumultuous year for the Atlanta, Georgia rockers. Touring since the start of last year, including a co-headline tour with Meshuggah and Decapitated (tbf never heard of them), appearances at festivals such as Roskilde, Sonisphere France and Orion and an extensive tour in support of recent album Yellow & Green, 2012 was shaping up nicely, considering that Y&G was a fantastic album. However, it all went south in very sudden fashion, when they were involved in a bus crash during the UK leg of their tour in August. Several broken bones, including some fractured vertebrae, and a lot of physical therapy later, and things are looking up for Baroness, as they look to get back on the horse. You wouldn't have blamed them for quitting after such a close near-death experience, but it's their passion for making music that is bringing them back, which is what's earned them this nomination.
2. ENTER SHIKARI; Success upon success for ES this year. At the turn of the year, their 3rd album A Flash Flood Of Colour debuted in the mainstream charts at #4, an unprecedented achievement for a band very far removed from 'mainstream' music. Then followed a solid year of touring, playing across the world in support of the album in headline shows and festivals such as Australia's Soundwave, South Africa's Oppikoppi Festival, Reading & Leeds, Pukkelpop, Rock am Ring, T In The Park, among many others. Then, after 6 weeks stateside supporting (really though?) Falling In Reverse, it was back to the UK and Europe for the Flash Flood Of Christmas tour. A relentless and highly successful year for Shikari. Oh, and I met Rou the other day in Norwich before a show and he was a lovely guy, even if I came across as a weird twat with a mouthful of Hula Hoops and a shopping bag containing only bran flakes.
3. MUSE; Not much explanation needed here; fantastic new album The 2nd Law and a huge European arena tour, as well as the announcement of 2013 summer stadium dates, it's been a busy few months for Muse.
4. MARMOZETS; For such a fledgling band, 2012 has been a breakout year for these lot. With the release of 2nd EP Vexed back in February, which was received with critical acclaim from assorted rock press, and not least of all garnering the prestigious EP of the year from yours truly. Ahem. But being picked up to tour with some big names has also marked their rise, doing shows with the likes of Young Guns, We Are The In Crowd and Your Demise during a Vans Off The Wall tour in autumn, festival appearances including Download and Reading, and being announced as supports for Feed the Rhino and Funeral For A Friend next year, it's been a year of upward trajectory.
5. ROLO TOMASSI; A year in which RT have had to adapt to a new lineup, with a replacement guitarist and bassist filling in where the original members left off to focus on university education; however, if new album Astraea is anything to go by, the adaptation process seems to have taken mere minutes. A major reshuffle that still produces the band's best album yet, and a successful UK/Europe tour - they've done well.

There are of course other bands that have had amazing years, but remember, theNOISE is but a tiny acorn in the forest of music press, so as it grows I will follow more and more bands, to produce at the end a wider selection of candidates. But, the one winner of Band Of The Year goes to...

ENTER SHIKARI!

It's been a top year for them, and they have established themselves as a big name in the UK's rock scene, and continue to make an ever-growing positive impression upon the world stage. Well done chaps, bring on 2013. And Rou, if you read this and happen to remember me, I'm not that weird. Well...

TOP 10 TRACKS OF 2012

Let there be no ado about this - a brief countdown of my top 10 songs from this year, more or less rated on how addicted to them I got. Set? Let's dive in.

10. Muse; UNSUSTAINABLE

The first we heard from The 2nd Law, containing (in my opinion) one of the best bits of music Muse have ever written (in the middle section), and all told a breathtaking live intro.

9. The Chariot; FIRST

The highlight of my 10/10 rated album from the mental metalcore pioneers. Metal x spaghetti western is all I'll say. Genius.

 

8. Rolo Tomassi; OLD MYSTICS

Full to the brim of shredtacular riffs and general brilliance.

 

 7. Parkway Drive; DARK DAYS

Brooding from the start, a killer riff, some brutal breakdowns and powerful vocals, it's PWD at their best.

 

6. Biffy Clyro; STINGIN' BELLE

A joyously triumphant song, and that's before the bagpipes come in. It's just awesome.

 

5. While She Sleeps; SEVEN HILLS

Everything that makes WSS good - heavy power with melody, emotion and an anthemic chorus.

 

4. Enter Shikari; GANDHI MATE, GANDHI

An absolute gem that continues to set ES apart. Dubsteppy beats, hardcore breakdowns and a classic Rou rant.

 

3. Marmozets; GOOD DAYS

I'd have settled for a song's worth of the opening sexalicious bass hook, but no, everything's awesome too. Way to keep getting better, guys.

 

2. Baroness; EULA

Lyrically clever, beautifully complex; an outstanding song.

 

1. Muse; SURVIVAL

A rousing, intentionally ridiculous but brilliant piece of Olympic bombasticness.

 

So, something Marmozets didn't win? I am still in possession of most of my marbles. Butt I just loved Survival so much, it was over-the-top, inspiring, but at the same time almost a pastiche of itself. The perfect Olympic theme, and a microcosm of why Muse are modern prog rock/the natural successors to the mighty Queen.

 

 

EP REVIEW - ROUT & RORY C; 'NOURISHMENT EP'

ROUT & RORY C; NOURISHMENT EP

★★★★

Beautiful melodic electronic stylings from Enter Shikari frontman. 

For those of you who don't know, ROUT is the DJ alter-ego of Enter Shikari vox-man/synth-ist Rou Reynolds, and Rory C is, well, Rory C,  guitarist from Enter Shikari. This 4-track EP, produced for Action Aid's 'Bollocks To Poverty' campaign, is a great slice of (at times) slightly crackers electronic/dubstep, built around sound clips from Action Aid's videos from around the globe, such as taking samples of songs from African tribes and the like - it's an unusual take, and it makes for great listening.

Underlined by the kind of synths and delicious wub-wub-wubs that are commonplace amongst Enter Shikari's unique genre-ical slant, this showcases the more melodic side of electronic music. There are no Mariana Trench-deep bass drops to shake your bones to powder - its instead more subtle, and even with the drum & bass style drum patterns, is a pretty chilled affair. The vocal clips add to this sense, though that is not to say that it doesn't get a little bit filthy at times...

The best song on the EP, for me, is Reaching Across The Globe, which has the aforementioned crackers-ness - trumpets ahoy! I heard the most Shikari parallels in this one, but there's no sense that one copies the style of the other, and vice-versa. Case and point on the subtle/chilled front is Mary's Song though (done with Rory C), which builds and builds from a lovely acoustic guitar/vocal melody into the most subtle of wubs, and then ups tempo when the drums kick in. However, with the vocal bit on repeat through the song, that beautiful edge to the track is retained. The other 2 tracks, How Are You & Nourishment, are more led by the tribal vocal stylings - all of these different aspects add up to make something truly unique in its sound. 

I wholeheartedly recommend getting this - its thoroughly different, shot through with acoustic guitar, trumpets, distinctive vocals that all compliment the electronic backbone fantastically - you might be dubious that such things could be combined, but the evidence is right here. It's also great music to just sit back and listen to. It's available from http://www.entershikari.com/downloads/ for a minimum of £1, with all proceeds going to Action Aid. Do something good today, get some great music that goes to a great cause and say bollocks to poverty. 

FREE ENTER SHIKARI LIVE EP

Over the last few weeks, Shikari have put out a few live videos from a very tiny gig they did in London's Kentish Town NW5. Now this is available as an EP. And it's free.

Tracklisting is;

1. System / Meltdown
2. Gandhi Mate. Gandhi
3. Destabilise / Motherstep / Mothership
4. Arguing With Thermometers

Effectively a 6-track EP, with 24 minutes of a beast of a show, for nada. It's brilliant. If you have never seen Shikari live, this should give you all the motivation you need. 

http://www.entershikari.com/downloads/

While you wait, here's Gandhi Mate, Gandhi.

ENTER SHIKARI TO PLAY UK'S BEST SMALL VENUE

Which unfortunately wasn't Norwich Arts Centre in the end, that honour went to the Tunbridge Wells Forum. 

But on June 5th, Enter Shikari will play the venue in a one-off show celebrating Tunbridge Wells' triumph, and the capacity is only 220. Thus, tickets will be hard-as to get hold of. Which is where NME are stepping in. If you point your browser to http://www.nme.com/win/1919 then they are giving away 75 tickets to the show. 

You have to answer a very difficult question...so it'll be die-hard fans only. LOLJK.

Congrats to the Forum though, shame it wasn't the Arts Centre but hey ho.

ENTER SHIKARI; 'SYSTEM // MELTDOWN' LIVE

You want something to make your day better, yes? Watch this. Footage from Shikari's small London show of System // Meltdown which is bloody amazing, and then a bit better. Best live band in Britain atm.

ENTER SHIKARI SHOULD WIN EVERYTHING, FOREVER

(Moderately) bold statement time: Enter Shikari are THE best British band around at the moment, and one of the best ever.


People will argue that Noel Gallagher and his High Flying Berks are amazing. Maybe Arctic Monkeys, Mumford and Sons, etc. I have nothing against those last 2, but I don't think they stand up to the might of Shikari. I even believe that for a band with a sound as diverse as theirs, which is bound to draw criticism from people for being a mess of different genres or something, the success they've had is truly phenomenal, and they will in time deserve to stand up with the legends of British music. 


A Flash Flood of Colour held the number 1 album spot on release week for 6 days I think, only falling right at the end. Falling to 4th though, which is hardly a negligible achievement. Consider their opponents, the cream of Britain's mainstream music scene*, and Shikari, a band not enough people knew about - it's incredible. 


And well deserved, AFFOC is utterly brilliant, and it's going to take a simply stunning record to dislodge that from my favourite album of this year (and it's got a place in my all time favourites now)**. The way they go about making the music they do is brilliant, and they blend genres so well that it is a truly unique sound - you try mixing hardcore, dubstep, D'n'B, indie etc - that is so distinctive. The only other band I can think of with a sound as 'out-there' as them are the vastly underrated Rolo Tomassi. 


And, on top of that (aside from the music), the work they do is epic. Getting right at the forefront of addressing world issues, but without being pretentious (coughBonocoughGeldof). Check out Step Up clothing, created by Rou. http://www.stepuphq.com/


I love Enter Shikari. They're frankly amazing. These are the reasons why they should win at everything, forever. You should love them too, if you already don't. I'm done.

*This is not some form of hipster 'f*ck the mainstream' rant
**Step up (as it were) Muse. I want an amazing album from you.

KERRANG! AWARDS 2012: MY PREDICTIONS

It's that time again kids. The K! Awards are upon us, and this is who I'd like to see scoop the awards (although I know some won't come close)


Best British Newcomer: Marmozets (no contest in my mind)
Best International Newcomer: Kvelertak
Best Single: Cancer Bats - Old Blood
Best Album: Enter Shikari - A Flash Flood Of Colour
Best Live Band: Enter Shikari
Best British Band: Enter Shikari
Best International Band: Mastodon
Best TV Show: Being Human
Best Video Game: Skyrim
Best Film: The Skin I Live In (far too arty though. It's Spanish, for one thing)
Best Comedian: Bill Bailey
Tweeter Of The Year: Jono Yates of Blitz Kids (@jonoBLITZ)
Hottest Female: Romily Alice of Japanese Voyeurs
Hottest Male: Jared Leto of 30 Seconds To Mars
Villain Of The Year: The whole of Metallica (yes for Lulu)
Hero Of The Year: Rou Reynolds of Enter Shikari
Best Festival: Download


So maybe I may have shown a slight bias to a particular British band... It's what I think though, so... awards.kerrang.com

LIVE REVIEW; ENTER SHIKARI, 5/10/11, UEA LCR

*****

Fresh from completing work on 3^rd album A Flash Flood of Colour (due for release early 2012), St. Albans quartet Enter Shikari hit UK roads for a headline tour following a summer that included a huge set at Reading/Leeds. Norwich was the tour's first port of call for a band fast becoming one of Britain's best live acts, and their unique blend of rock, hardcore and drum 'n' bass/dubstep went down a storm to an adoring crowd.

Wasting no time, the band dived into their set (quite literally – at one point vocalist Rou Reynolds actually swung into the crowd from stage-side rigging), and tore through a set comprising of their most popular songs covering their 2 records and recent singles, as well as some fan favourites. A semi-acoustic interlude fell a little bit flat, not keeping with the slightly chaotic atmosphere permeating the LCR (there were even human pyramids at one point); that said, the crowd knew every word anyway. After a blistering encore, Shikari left the stage triumphantly, and left the LCR itself battered, bruised and grinning from ear to ear. It's safe to say Norwich set a good precedent for the rest of the tour.

COPYRIGHT Thomas Castle , October 2011