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(6/10) Eventhough Skindred is more popular than I thought I missed them so far. The band from the UK released already 4 records and now it's time for "Kill the power", their fifth disc. Skindred was founded already in 1998. Actually it was Benji Webbe, Jeff Rose and Martin Ford from Dub War, who started the band - together with Daniel Pugsley on bass. After some line-up changes in beginning of 2002 - Rose and Ford left the band - Skindred found a quite stable line-up.
So when I got their new album on my desk I was pretty curious about what I get to hear. Knowing of course Dub War I could already guess how Skindred will sound. They play an interesting mix between metal, dub, reggae and hip-hop.
The album has definitely highlights like the opener "Kill the power". Starting with a "Insane in the brain" sample from Cypress Hill the song becomes a hip-hop rocker. The track could also have been in the "Judgement night" sampler. "Words on fire" is another good song on the album. It has a great grooves and some heavy guitar riffs. It also transports a lot of energy. The songs rocks. Actually also "More fire" is a cool piece of music. Reggae, acoustic guitars and a good vibe. The right songs for grey winter days.
"Ninja" is a very weird song. It could be one of my faves if there would not be the strange vocal lines. What I like is the dub parts and the Korn-like guitars.
But there are also less good tracks on the album. "We live" and "The kids are right now" very mainstream and stands out from the other songs. Those songs are just kept too simple and too often heard. Was this the influence of Russ Ballard on the album? I hope not.
For me it is a bit too much of everything. The music of Skindred has for sure its charme, but since they mix so many different styles also becomes irritating from time to time. I think that an EP with the best songs would have done the job as well.
(6/10)
Tracklist:
- Kill the power
- Ruling force
- Playing with the devil
- Worlds on fire
- Ninja
- The kids are right now
- We live
- Open eyed
- Dollars and dimes
- Saturday
- Proceed with caution
- More fire
Label: Napalm Records
Genre: Alternative Metal
