Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror Album Review

By Dan Donnelly / February 17, 2012

rating: 2

Sleigh Bells are a Brooklyn duo consisting of guitarist Derek Miller and lead singer Alexis Krauss. Their differing musical background explains the contrasting sound of their sophomore effort, Reign Of Terror, with Miller being the ex-guitarist of hardcore band Poison The Well and Krauss having her basis solely in pop music. This unusual combination created an interesting atmosphere on their first album which came somewhat out of left-field, but fans now know what to expect from Sleigh Bells, meaning they had to pull something special out of the bag to live up to the hype on the second album. Unfortunately, they€™ve definitely fallen short of the mark. Before I start criticising the album, there are some strong points to it. Firstly, it sounds huge. The production quality is top notch, and the influence of 80s arena rock bands like Def Leppard are obvious due to the echoing drum and guitar tracks (Miller has stated in interviews he recorded a number of the guitar parts in large empty rooms to create this effect). Intro track True Shred Guitar reinforces this, with Krauss shouting €˜get the fuck up!€™ over a faux live performance backing, as it leads into the riff-heavy first part of the album. The emphasis on beats that was found on the first album is also still evident on Reign Of Terror, with heavily programmed drums keeping a great sense of rhythm in line with the pop sensibilities of the band. It should also be said that the band have evolved their lyrical content from the frat party vibes that their debut gave off. This is mostly due to the turbulence Miller was experiencing in his life during the writing and recording of the album, as the band can be heard switching the fairly meaningless lyrics they showcased on their first album to far more serious lyrics, such as the heavily personal Born To Lose which discusses suicide. Whilst it is impressive to hear the maturity of the band, it doesn€™t really suit their musical style and will be potentially polarising to their fan base who don€™t expect in-depth, depressing lyrics. To continue with the theme of progression from their first album, Reign Of Terror definitely leans far more heavily on guitar riffs than 2010€™s Treats. This is cool to hear at first, but after a few tracks the album starts to drag along as the riffs barely change from song to song, instead remaining at a plodding mid-tempo pace with barely any variety, a disappointment when considering the technical ability of guitarist Miller that he displayed in Poison The Well. The riff-fests are broken up by more mid-tempo tracks acting as pseudo-ballads that seems to repeat themselves time after time, especially towards the end of the album, where it gets difficult to tell where one track ends and the next begins. After the effort the band made on Treats to try and create something original and different, it feels like they€™ve simply phoned it in on Reign Of Terror. By focusing more on guitars and riffs on this album, Sleigh Bells have put themselves into competition with bands that have a similar thing going on with heavy guitars and a poppy lead singer, such as Rolo Tomassi and iwrestledabearonce, two bands which are creating more interesting music. This is the real problem with Reign Of Terror, it€™s simply not an interesting album. When Sleigh Bells burst onto the scene two years ago, they made a real stir, they had an impact, and love or hate them, they created an emotional response. The only response I had to this album was the overwhelming urge to make it stop. Sleigh Bells' new album Reign of Terror will be released on Feb 20th, 2012.https://www.facebook.com/sleighbellshttp://reignofterror.tv/