SKINDRED are constantly evolving. After reaching their hard-rocking peak with sophomore effort ‘Roots Rock Riot’, the following mini-album ‘Shark Bites And Dog Fights’ hinted that they were indeed moving away from the nu-metal hangover they cut their teeth on and were experimenting more with the sounds and stylings that defined the previous Dub Wars project.
‘Union Black’ then, is a mix of all of the aforementioned. It’s not an instant hit like ‘Roots Rock…’ but it hits the heights that ‘Shark Bites…’ aimed for and failed. ‘Warning’ is the most commercially viable of all the tracks on offer here and with Jacoby Shaddix’s additional vocals it’s one that long-time Skindred fans will warm to quickly. Elsewhere, ‘Gun Talk’ makes for a straight-up dub interlude and channels the Jamaican sounds much more obviously than Benji and co. have allowed before, while ‘Own Ya’ is grimey as hell and pounds along in the low-end like some sort of disgusting, bass-hungry animal. This is an incredibly varied effort that excels across the board, albeit in different ways.
As such, it’s a hard album to define, but then Skindred were always ones to defy definition. Whether you’re a fan of the hard-rocking Skindred, the dubbier Skindred, or the (and we use the term loosely) ‘poppy’ Skindred, there is something here for everyone. The only downfall to ‘Union Black’ is that it dabbles in all the aforementioned pies, and most will judge this as inconsistent. We however, do not.
ANDY RITCHIE