161 days till W:O:A 2023.
After the doom and gloom from Pentagram last week it is high time to move on to a band that will bring some groove and fun into your day! From the latest addition to the Wacken line-up, Skindred caught my ear immediately with their latest single release GIMME THAT BOOM. Just listen to this song and tell me you are not totally hyped and ready for action after listening to this? It is perfect festival music. The corresponding new album Smile will be released on August 4th of 2023, so I expect to hear some more of this at Wacken this year.
Skindred are a Welsh band from Newport formed in 1998 by vocalist Benji Webbe and bassist Daniel Pugsley. By the time they released their first studio album Babylon in 2002 the band had found their permanent line-up with guitarist Mikey Demus and drummer Arya Goggin. This line-up has been intact for over 20 years now. If you are interested in the band history and in getting to know the individual band members, there is a documentary available on YouTube.
To this day Skindred have released seven studio albums. Their debut album was a powerful fusion of alternative metal and reggae and Skindred was incredibly succesful with this album in the US. The band's sound has changed slightly on each album and they are not afraid to experiment and reinvent themselves. Their latest studio album Big Tings from 2018 is probably one of their least heavy albums. Skindred coined the notion of Ragga Rock, which describes a fusion of metal, reggae, punk and rock and Benji Webbe is known for his ragga-rapping performances. On Big Tings, there are very few hip hop or raggae passages.
Big Tings is a very funky, groovy and pop influenced album. I don't find it particularly heavy and I'd put it more in the hard rock or even alternative rock genre. There is a lot of whooping and cheering to be heard here combined with clean vocals and some electronic elements.
There are three songs that stand out to me and I played those more often than the others. By far my favourite song on Big Tings is the second song That's My Jam. This song is insanely groovy and it makes you groove along and the chorus is so easy and catchy that you can participate in this song right away. I can easily imagine the crowd whooping when this is performed live. Here is performance from Wacken 2018. And yes! There is some whooping. When Webbe starts his ragga breakdown and the sirens kick in, it is not possible to keep your feet still.
I also like Last Chance for the heavily distorted, sludgy guitars and the cheerleader shouts in the background which work oddly well. The most heavy song on the album is probably Machine which starts with a chord that immediately reminds you of the Beastie Boys. On this song we have Phil Campbell from Motörhead playing guitar and REEF frontman Gary Stringer supporting on the vocals. While heavy this is not a metal song, it is solid hard rock.
The rest of the album is pretty bland and forgettable to me and it dragged a bit. I am very much looking forward to seeing this band perform live at Wacken, because this is apparently what they do best. Also, I am curious to find out in which direction they will go with their next album. If GIMME THAT BOOM is where they are taking it, I am definitely on board.
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