Skindred - 'You Got This' Album Review

50 minutes ago
3 min read

Tracklist:

1. You Got This

2. Can I Get A

3. Born Fe Dis

4. This Is The Sound

5. Broke

6. Glass

7. Big Em Up

8. Do It Like This

9. My People

10. Give Thanks

11. Dred Or Alive (Bonus Track)

Welsh Ragga-metal pioneers Skindred, now a trio, are back with their 9th studio album 'You Got This', released April 17th via Earache Records.

'You Got This' throws us in at the deep end with a typical Mikey Demus riff, with an extra bit of grit after the departure of bassist Dan Pugsley, followed by Benji Webbe's unmistakeable voice falling in. It's another track in their arsenal to get people moving, aka their specialty, especially in the breakdown, which feels like a perfect place for Newport Helicopter-esque shenanigans.

'Can I Get A' is a lot more relaxed, leaning more into the reggae styling, but with hints of heavy on the guitars that are unfortunately buried a bit in the mix. I don't know what it is, but the instrumentals just sound very muddy, which is very peculiar considering the production on the rest of the record is nice and clear. On the positive side, it shows that Webbe has a very nice, melodic clean singing voice in spades.

'Born Fe Dis' takes us back to the groovier, heavier side, with a swaggering cowboy feel to it (punctuated with actual Yee-Haws). Drummer Arya Goggin puts in a stellar performance, really shining through in this one.

'This Is The Sound' is yet another heavy-groover, although I have to admit that the high pitched voices singing the title lines in the chorus are a little grating to me, I would've much preferred Webbe sing them like he does in the buildup to the final chorus, which sounds very menacing in the best way possible.

'Broke' is just a straight up ska song, and I am a ska fan, but I'm not massive on this one. It feels very one note and boring to me, creating an unneeded break and slightly ruining the pacing of the album.

The intro for 'Glass' starts us out with a slower straight reggae style, maintaining this course for the first verse, before transitioning into a more heartfelt hard rock ballad affair, then pinballing back and forth to the reggae. It almost reminds me of 'Hydrograd' era Stone Sour in the rockier moments, and especially Demus' impressively understated solo, followed by some equally impressive vocal work from Webbe, with a nice piano outro to tie it together.

The band introduces clubland into the ragga metal styling with 'Big Em Up', and it's an interesting dichotomy. It shouldn't work, but it kind of does, although the sound I can only describe as industrial piping being dropped does start to get on my nerves. Somehow they have managed to make a more chaotic reggaeton breakdown than Knocked Loose.

'Do It Like This' presents us with a more typical Demus riff, but with a more 90s Nu-Metal framing through the lens of early 80s hip-hop. This ends up with the track feeling a little confused, with he band trying to dip their toe into one pool too many, however its still a fun track.

Demus amps the groove factor back up in 'My People', and it feels like Webbe is letting loose a little more on the track to match this, particularly in the short outro. Rewinding a bit, the breakdown almost echoes 'Warning' in the backing guitars, creating a nice little throwback to their earlier work, and the whole thing is backed by another solid Goggin beat.

Then comes 'Give Thanks'. I could basically just copy and paste what I wrote about 'Broke', but with the addition that it just feels saccharine in its message. It feels forced and disingenuous, which I know the band aren't. In all honesty I'm quite underwhelmed with this as the regular album closer.

'Dred Or Alive' is exactly the sound I picture when I hear the name Skindred, and it's no bad thing. What's disappointing is that it's a bonus track and not the true finisher to the album, because it has everything that makes Skindred great: a fucking groovy Demus riff backed by a thumping drum beat from Goggin and some great snarled wordplay from Webbe in his signature fashion. Past it being on some physical variants, I don't know if this track will be released further. If it isn't, I thoroughly recommend you get one of those variants, because it is worth it.

I am a big fan of Skindred, and on the whole this is a solid album, but honestly, I feel like some extra tweaks were needed to take this from good to great. Its not on the level of the likes of 'Big Tings', 'Union Black' or 'Kill The Power', but it's still overall a fun time, and can you really expect anything else from these guys?