No song better represents what Skindred are all about — and why they’re such an important band — than “Sound the Siren,” the song from their forthcoming album Volume that MetalSucks is premiering to the world today. Startlingly un-complex riffs; vocals that border on rapping; danceable reggae beats; a DJ running samples and fucking SCRATCHING fer chrissakes. All these traits should be — and could be — checks in the negative column for any band we might be talking about in this space. But when Skindred do these things they do them so well, and blend them together in such a complete, seamless way, that the end result serves as a reminder that nu-metal didn’t necessary have to be such a bad thing. It ended up that way, sure, but that’s more an indictment on those who took the formula and ran with it — and the braindead masses that ate it up — than on the style of music itself. “Sound the Siren” does everything a great metal track is supposed to do: it fires you up, gets your head-banging, and might even inspire you to sing along. Skindred are the masters.

Volume comes out October 30th via Napalm Records. Pre-order it here.