Album Review

Skindred – Kill The Power

• 27th Jan 2014

With their last release in 2011, Skindred’s fifth studio album ‘Kill The Power’ has been highly anticipated by the legion of loyal fans they’ve gained within the past decade. A strong opener, the album kicks off with first single and title track ‘Kill The Power’. With a ridiculously strong chorus and memorable riffs, this song still carries signature Skindred element; but it even features a sample of a sample from Kanye West’s ‘Power’, or the original track ‘Afromerica’ depending how you look at it. Either way, this just reaffirms how original this band really is. How many metal bands do you know that can sample Kanye West, make it their own and then use it to make a badass, heavy track?

They’ve set a high standard for themselves though, as ‘Kill The Power’ is easily the strongest song out of this release. It’s followed by ‘Ruling Force’ which embraces the new metal/dance era. Still good fun, it provides MC-style vocals, dark riffs complimented by the heavy bass of dub-step. In fact, the entire record has kept style continuity, whilst adapting to modern dance sounds. However, after the first few tracks, you can’t help but feel like you’ve heard them all.

There are some exceptions to this rule, with ‘We Live’ providing an upbeat power ballad with inspirational lyrics bearing a vague resemblance to something out of Leto’s ‘This Is War’, and penultimate track‘ Proceed With Caution’ filled with brutal riffs and plenty of aggression reminding the listener of what Skindred are really capable of.

Overall, it’s not necessarily consistent with its quality, but then maybe that’s because of the high standard they’ve set for themselves over previous years. Either way it’s worth a listen. Despite the negatives, ‘Kill The Power’ is good fun, it’s just no Babylon.

– Mercedes Brown

Venue: Kill The Power
Support Band: Cooking Vinyl