Roots Rock Riot
Roots Rock Riot connects Skindred's heavy guitars with rhythms that invite movement. The combination of metal, punk and reggae stays easy to follow, even when Benji Webbe quickly changes vocal style. Differences become parts of songs rather than separate attractions. Clear melodies and enthusiastic interplay hold the arrangements together and give their contrasting ingredients a shared purpose.
The title track and Ratrace demonstrate how well a hard riff can work with a danceable pulse. Webbe can deliver forceful outbursts without losing a catchy vocal line. The band clearly want to release energy. However, Trouble and Choices and Decisions also carry a darker mood, preventing the upbeat attitude from telling the entire story.
Alright gives melody more room through broad vocal harmonies. Trouble instead keeps its chorus simpler and more direct. Ease Up introduces clearer jungle influences into the rhythms. Reggae does not constantly occupy the foreground, but it changes how the heavier music moves. The difference supplies more variety than a succession of straightforward guitar attacks would offer.
Cause Ah Riot neatly brings the approach together. It begins with jungle and ragga, switches to a heavy riff and subsequently finds an accessible chorus. Guitars receive fresh emphasis towards the end. These transitions work because the musicians keep responding to each other. Webbe supplies much of the character, but the band give him several different settings, allowing his voice to do more than simply rise above them.
Not every combination settles equally neatly into place. Killing Me has plenty of enjoyment and movement but lacks the strongest songs' coherence. Nevertheless, Roots Rock Riot convinces through its melodies and the ease with which forceful playing becomes an inviting rhythm. The music requires little preparation. A good chorus and the urge to move are usually enough to make its appeal clear.
