Skindred is a Welsh rock band that fuses heavy metal with other genres, most notably reggae.

[5] Dub War was formed in Newport, Wales in 1993 and eventually signed with Earache Records, releasing two full-length studio albums on the label during that decade: Pain and Wrong Side Of Beautiful (the band later released Westgate Under Fire in 2022).

Dub War’s metal crossover sound set the template for which lead vocalist Benji Webbe and his band mates in Skindred would later adopt and perfect.

Benji tried to form a band out of the people featured in the video (that was going to be called Bancall) however the name was changed to Dub War.

AllMusic writer Johnny Loftus wrote that "Skindred doesn't seem to consciously want the reinvention tag; it has simply tapped into the same lack of pretension that fueled Korn and Living Colour's Vivid – records that were made visionary by an unadulterated honesty in both delivery and craft.

[...] highly recommended for fans of literate genre jumpers like Soulfly and System of a Down, or any heshers looking for some heavy-hitting firepower that hasn't fallen victim to the anvil of corporate assimilation.

The band's fourth studio album, Union Black, was released 25 April 2011 exclusively to the UK and Europe.

Alongside the standard release, a deluxe edition of the album that contained a documentary called "Rude Boys for Life" was available for pre-order through PledgeMusic.

[21] With the incredible support of the rock and metal community – including messages of support from Metallica, Rage Against The Machine and Disturbed as well as Kerrang!, NME and Louder publications[22][23][24] – the band landed a career best of Number 2 in the UK Album chart,[25] leading to a feature on BBC Breakfast.

[27][28] All of this followed announcing their biggest ever headline show at Wembley Arena for March 2024[29] and selling out multiple shows for their October 2023 Smile headline tour months in advance, to winning Best UK Live Act at the Heavy Music Awards 2023[30] and being the cover stars of Kerrang!

[32] Skindred fuse heavy metal, reggae, punk, hip hop and electronica influences to create a unique style and sound.

'"[35] Skindred's bassist Daniel Pugsley played for the gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello for their appearance on Later... with Jools Holland on 16 June 2006.

Skindred also made headlines at the same festival in 2006 when Benji Webbe took part performing Korn's track A.D.I.D.A.S.

onstage at Download Festival with the band, after vocalist Jonathan Davis was unexpectedly rushed to hospital.