The odds have always felt stacked against Skindred. A band of misfits from a dank corner of Wales whose spring-loaded brand of ragga-metal emerged at the tail-end of the nu-metal boom, few would have bet on them having grown into one of the UK’s most stubbornly beloved bands two decades down the line. Yet here we are. When Five Finger Death Punch (by all counts, one of the biggest acts in heavy music) dropped out of Download 2023, Newport’s finest were on hand to save the day – and you’d be hard pushed to find a single punter who felt short-changed. Arriving five years after 2018’s swaggering Big Tings, eighth album Smile feels like a rumination on why exactly its authors have achieved such popularity and longevity. The shamanistic stomp of Our Religion reinforces ...