Skindred is a Welsh rock band formed in Newport, South Wales in 1998. Skindred's musical style mixes heavy metal, alternative rock and reggae. The band also integrate elements of hardcore punk, dancehall, jungle, ska, hip hop, drum and bass, dubstep and various other influences into their music. Skindred are well known for their energetic and involving live performances, and have won several awards including "Best Live Band" at the 2011 UK Metal Hammer 'Golden Gods' awards and the "Devotion Award" at the 2011 Kerrang! Awards. Dub War was formed in Newport in 1993, and eventually signed with Earache Records. According to vocalist Benji Webbe, "They would not let us record and just wouldn't give us money to live on, this made us fight internally till we had no option other than to go our separate ways or kill someone or each other." Dub War disbanded in 1998, and Webbe formed Skindred with bassist Daniel Pugsley, guitarist Mikeydemus, and drummer Arya Goggin after Webbe was unable to put together a new project featuring other members of Dub War. In 2002, Skindred released its debut album, Babylon. After being reissued in 2003 by RCA Records, the album was re-released by Lava Records on 14 August 2004. 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." In the United States, Babylon charted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Reggae Albums chart, No. 5 on the Top Heatseekers chart and at No. 189 on the Billboard 200, and the single "Nobody" peaked at No. 14 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and at No. 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in 2004. In 2005, the single "Pressure" peaked at No. 30 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. In 2006, Babylon once again charted at No. 1 on the Top Reggae Albums chart. On 23 October 2007, Skindred released its second album, Roots Rock Riot on Bieler Bros. Records. In the United States, the album peaked at No. 6 on the Top Heatseekers chart and at No. 22 on the Top Independent Albums chart. The album Shark Bites and Dog Fights was released in September 2009.