Review SKINDRED ‘Smile’

Five years after having brought ‘Big Tings’ to the record stores, Skindred have finished work on their eight full-length longplayer. Simply entitled ‘Smile’, the album features twelve songs being a continuation of the band’s genre kaleidoscope.

Skindred grew out of the ashes of Dub War and it’s frontman Benji Webb who is the driving force. For another time it’s metal, hip-hop, reggae and rock the blends to a rather unique musical cocktail that wants to be explored and enjoyed.

The start of the album is heavy and dark. ‘Our Religion’ is a bold opening statement since it isn’t a catchy and easy-to-listen track. Sinister nu-metal reminding riffs provides a heaviness to a raging opener that is also weird and confusing.

Things get straighten-out with ‘Gimme That Boom’. The song about the age of egoistic instant gratification comes with a great groove. Metal and hip-hop are the key elements of this earworm and standing still while listening to ‘Gimme That Boom’ is a mission impossible. This song wants you to jump, jump, jump. ‘Gimme That Boom’ is hybrid of the sound of the 90s and modern production techniques, resulting in a musical blast.

^{Skindred by Dean Chalkley}

To add another aspect of Skindred to the mix means to mention ‘L.O.V.E. (Smile Please)’. The song premiered on this year’s Download festival and looking at the energy of this reggae-driven tune it must have been a blast preforming this hymn on a bigger stage.

Reggae is also what drives ‘This Appointed Love’ while the rock and metal roots prevail on ‘Black Stars’. The melodic chorus though creates a bit of a counterpart while still fitting excellently into the context of the entire track.

Skindred don’t care about music borders. Those just don’t exist for this crossover enthusiasts, manifested by song like ‘Addicted’. Horn section, reggae and hard rock sound merge and the result justifies the braveness.

The addictive ‘Mama’ takes a similar approach before ‘Unstoppable’ connect soundwise to the opener. Skindred and their frontman Benji Webb is an unstoppable force in the contemporary rock scene and there is no end in sight, which is, considering ‘Smile’, a great perspective.