Album Review

Skindred - Union BlackSkindred – Union Black

Skindred are one of the most loved rock bands in the UK today, their third studio album ‘Shark Bites And Dog Fights’ really saw them step up their game and ever since then they have been touring the world over as much as they can with festival appearances, headline shows and also a massive support slot on the recent Rob Zombie UK come back tour and they still found time to work on their forth studio album ‘Union Black’ which is due for release on the 25th April.

‘Union Black’ is one of the most anticipated albums from a UK rock band in a long time especially after Skindred recently teased their fans by releasing their new single ‘Warning’ featuring Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddick online to stream on their MySpace page, Benji has also recently gave a lot of interviews about the album claiming that it is their hardest hitting record to date and I have to agree as Benji’s vocals are on top form coming across louder, stronger and clearer than ever before, and with themes tackling real life situation like the current gun and knife crime crises which is gripping the country.

The album opens with the title track ‘Union Black’ black which is a dark slight electronic variation of the English national anthem, Benji covers this pretty well vocally and moments later the guitars come in super charged for ‘Warning’ the explosive first single from the album which features Jacoby Shaddick from Papa Roach, the mix of Benji and Jacoby’s vocals work ever so well and the general fast pace and heavy riffs more than guarantees that bones could be broke in the pit at future Skindred gigs as this is proper hard hitting stuff.

Next up is ‘Cut Dem’ another really fast paced heavy song that is just crying out for you to sing-a-long to, the song is about the current knife crime craze that is gripping the UK a topic that really needs covering and one that Benji and co cover all so well with heavy riffs, gripping vocals and the odd dub step moment.

‘Doom Rif’ is yet another hard hitting mosh pit anthem where as soon as the chorus kicks in you can gurantee that a massive circle pit will kick off at the bands future shows, the guitars riffs are full on crunching riffs, the drum beats pack an almighty punch, the basslines are full of skill and Benji’s vocals could not get any better.

‘Living A Lie’ starts off more mellow but as the song progresses it adapts the heavy fast pace that the rest of the songs on the album have with the chorus being an absolutely killer.

‘Gun Talk’ is without a doubt the stand out track on the album because Skindred have managed to cover such a dark horrible topic but turn it into a really nice upbeat ska meets reggae dance track which is bound to be a dance floor filler at rock clubs across the country.

The great thing about ‘Union Black’ is as the album progresses it just gets better and better, the first 6 tracks are without a doubt the strongest tracks on the album, but the next 6 tracks also manage to keep up the positive pace the only difference is that the later part of the album is not as hard hitting as the earlier part but the quality is still there.

Personally I think that Skindred have fully upped their game with ‘Union Black’ and it is going to be an instant hit with the fans and if Skindred ever do decide to play ‘Union Black’ in its entirety at a future gig I would bring your body armour along as the pit is going to fucking explode with these heavy tunes.

5/5

Review by Trigger

 Band Members

Benji Webbe
Mikey Demus
Dan Pugsley
Arya Goggin
 Track Listing
1. Intro (Union Black)
2. Warning
3. Cut Dem
4. Doom Rif
5. Living A Lie
6. Gun Talk
7. Own Ya
8. Make Your Mark
9. Get It Now
10. Bad Man Ah Bad Man
11. Death To All Spies
12. Game Over
 Band Related Links
Skindred Myspace
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?