NOTE TO PEOPLE WITH HALITOSIS: DON’T COME CLOSE TO SKINDRED
Friday, December 19th, 2008 at 4:17pm by Vince NeilsteinBy all accounts I should hate Skindred. They border on nu-metal and there’s nothing particularly innovative about their sound. Yet even though these Brits didn’t invent reggae-metal, they do a damn fine job of it and have put out plenty of quality material. There’s nothing particularly spectacular about their latest video for “Trouble” either, but just watching Benji Webbe do his thing is enough for me. Plus, there are choice lyrical nuggets like this one:
“why so close up to me? / dangerous place to be / and you’re rockin’ halitosis, a little. // Do you think I wear a vest? Putting me to the test / you’re gonna get yourself in a pickle.”
If that’s not tr00 / br00tal / kvlt, then for fuck’s sake I don’t know what is.
-VN
“border on nu metal”
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
Dude.. Good, simple video.. Solid band.
And yes.. Benji is DEFINITELY a pioneer in bridging reggae and metal. He’s been at this a lot long than most of the kids realize. Check out Dub War (his old band) even the work he did on the first Soul Fly. He was already an established artist in the UK before that. Big ups to Benji for kicking ass for this long and still pushing things forward.
Video is not that great. Song is though. And the band could be bigger than actually are w/ the proper muscle behind it.
So Vince…you..like Skindred or no? Yes with an if/No with a but. lol
Always liked this band, enjoy the mix of influences,
Good job on picking them up…
Skindred is great, but, I can see how they’d be a take or leave it for some folks. I own two of their albums and have turned several people on to them, definitely think people should give them a try and make up their own minds.
At least it isn’t “cookie monster death/black metal” ;)
Vince, just shut up. Now.
Fucking hell this song is awesome. Agree with anon #1, they definitely need more marketing muscle behind them (and a class-A producer for the next record to really shine, if I’m to nitpick).
GGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!
The music isn’t particularly bad – but it’s not like it’s ‘Dream Theater’ either – so it’s nothing impressive. The reggae style singing seems a bit out of place – even for a ‘nu-metal’ band (this isn’t ‘rap-metal’, but it does seem a tad bit ‘forced’). Regardless, I like the more clean-to-scream singing that the vocalist uses…Again, nothing new there.
Music like this sometimes ‘tests’ your ears if you now what I mean.
It really belongs in the ‘maybe’ pile; like ‘yeah’, there’s definitely potential here, but ‘no’ because the genre itself is hard to take seriously (barring the ‘Deftones’ and maybe one other band that isn’t coming to mind right now). I suppose I am biased, anything that isn’t Progressive, Power or Black-Metal, I tend to look-at/listen-to rather suspiciously.
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I’ve updated my blog, and seriously WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH REVOLVER-MAG?! I feel about as ripped off with my January 2009 Revolver Magazine as the MetalSucks editors did when they couldn’t get their free Dr. Pepper when GNR finally released Chinese Democracy…Actually, no, I feel slightly more ripped off – since I can get unlimited Dr. Peppers at my friends house (he works at a soft-drink manufacturer).
So hey.
The video isn’t that great, but Skindred is fucking great, because they do something that NO ONE else does. They are pretty much the only band that mixes metal, punk, reggae, and dancehall, and they do it well.
Million dollar love!!