Reign of Terror is the second studio album by the American noise pop duo Sleigh Bells. The album was released through Mom+Pop on February 21, 2012 The writing process for Reign of Terror began during the touring cycle for Sleigh Bells' debut album Treats in 2010. The song writing for Reign of Terror was a more collaborative effort between group members Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss, as the majority of the songs on Treats were written solely by Miller before Krauss joined the group. Krauss' musical background is primarily in pop music, and her contributions to the album included pop Read more on Last.fm.
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(No review.)
What happened, Sleigh Bells? Where did your fun go? This is just…an album. There’s no more feeling of letting your hair down for the weekend and throwing caution to the wind. Treats was like an overload of totally don’t care, I’m turning this music up, but Reign of Terror is subdued, quiet, and…well, boring for the most part.
Comeback Kid and Demons are the only tracks that remind me of Treats. I mean, You Lost Me starts off with strings and has snapping for the snare. You shouldn’t be able to hear a snap in the middle of listening to Sleigh Bells! You shouldn’t be able to hear at all after you finish.
I don’t know what I thought Sleigh Bells was before, but I like this in a completely different way from Treats. It’s like a really evil 80s R&B record. I just love it.
You can tell that the writing was more collaborative this time around (as in: Alexis Krauss helped), which makes me like it a bit less, honestly. The part I can’t deny about Sleigh Bells, though, is the energy. If ever I had to pick a soundtrack to the word ‘party’, most anything from SB would do the trick.
Plus, I can’t help but love the fact that double-kick was basically 808’d and mixed into this record at times. It’s nearly metal at times, but so well disguised that the average listener is none the wiser.
Vice: Cocaine, Cigarettes, Liquor
Mind’s Eye: Hi-top sneakers, Dark plastic sunglasses, Eyeliner
Consume With: Corndogs, McDonalds, Taco Bell
Sex: young & dumb, 2 rubbers, almost rape
Primary Sounds: Ibanez Metal Edge Pedal, Pom-Poms shaking, Drum Machines
Colors: bright ones, with thick black strokes, and then bright strokes
For Fans Of: Weezer, Rammstein, Britney Spears
What I’d Say: Seriously?, Really?, You can’t print that!
Standout Tracks:
Leader of the Pack
Demons
Road to Hell
This album gets a solid “meh” from me. Overall, it felt really weak and lazy. Reign of Terror was described by singer Alexis Krauss as sounding “really huge”, not so much. The groups publicist was quoted saying that [the album features] “ songs that are as crushing and authoritative as their title suggests; they’re effortlessly robust and heavier than any of the band’s previous output… the sonic equivalent of a beautiful shotgun to the head”. Yea…shotguns are normally painful to the head…as is this album. I’d suggest shying away from “Reign of Terror” and look elsewhere.
“Reign of Terror” is chock full-o more rambunctious as was “Treats”. Still seems that Miller is doing most of writing as well on this album, but it wouldn’t be Sleigh Bells without the airy calm vocals of Alexis. Together these two bring distortion and disorderly to a happy medium.