Sleigh Bells' "Reign of Terror" Album

I completely let this one slip under the radar. Something I greatly regret since I've been anticipating it so intently since I first heard their first album, Treats, last year. I was late, but instantly a huge fan of their sound. They have a unique indie sound that you can't really compare to any mix of other bands or solo artists.

Together, Alexis & Derek have brought two completely contradictory sounds together and made them work. Her sweet voice echos perfectly through his metal guitar riffs. Even the music is full of opposites. A song that starts off with a shotgun blast may immediately lead into a sweet bell lullaby.

Reign of Terror continues on the path of this American Noise genre they've coined, but in a much lighter manner. while still remaining as massive and remarkably "Sleigh Bells." You'll still want to bang your head with neck-breaking intensity to the extremely loud, live-sounding marching band style instrumentation, but the lyrics are much more easy going. It's almost like "Rill Rill" was the model song-type for this album. Almost every song has that same dream-sequence fantasy sound like a happy ending to a surf movie. 

If you've heard the first album, this one make take some adjusting. The first round for me was full of hope that the song would explode and double the production, but it never did. It wasn't disappointing, though, just awe-striking. Almost a relief because it makes the album more tolerable. I can't imagine how long I'd listen to the album if it were "Treats 2.0." Instead, the album heads is more gentle, and not by much, but enough for you to play both albums back to back without thinking you're listening to the same song over and over again. It's growth. 

"Born to Lose" & "Comeback Kid" served as the buzz singles for the album and they did a perfect job of getting the word out about the new album, without over saturating blogs with high hopes of a Grammy album of the year hopeful like a certain other gloom & doom pop-soul artist. Both songs are instant reminders of what made this band famous. They are completely capable of being mainstream and will serve well in ads, but it's completely different from anything you'd hear on Billboard. Interestingly enough, they are among my least favorite tracks on the album.

"Crush" is already my favorite track. It seems like their most radio friendly track, but I wouldn't expect them to be making any appearances on Ryan Seacrest's radio show to promote. Still, it's just cute and catchy enough to be in a Google+ commercial. "Demons" is another instant favorite. If Buffy the Vampire Slayer was still around, this would be the new, evolved intro sequence music. 

Even though it's not my favorite song on the album, I think the best song is "Never Say Die." It has a speedy hip-hop base that really pulls all of the drums, guitars and bells together. If a rapper like Eminem of Jay-Z hopped on this record, it'd sweep awards shows all year long.

I have this Zombie Apocalypse obsession going, and so far all of the songs on my Zombie Kill playlist are by the Sleigh Bells. They're really got this demonically powerful sound that makes you eager to bounce around the house like a mad-man. On a scale of ten, I'd rank this album a solid 8 for sheer production brilliance and appealing to my Zombie fetish.

01 “True Shred Guitar”

02 “Born to Lose”
03 “Crush”
04 “End of the Line”
05 “Leader of the Pack”
06 “Comeback Kid”
07 “Demons”
08 “Road to Hell”
09 “You Lost Me”
10 “Never Say Die”
11 “D.O.A.”