Reign of Terror

With the release of their debut album Treats in 2010, Sleigh Bells, made up of Alexis Krauss and Derek Edward Miller, burst forth into the musical world. The album is still a diverse pop wonder. It's a piece of work where songs like "Rachel", a synth heavy tune that practically drowns out the lead singer Alexis Krauss' voice, leads into a laid back summertime tune like "Rill Rill", which in turn leads into the guitar heavy tune "Crown On The Ground". It was an assured and accomplished first album, especially considering the amount of ideas that Sleigh Bells managed to shove into an album that only runs just over a half hour long and that the album, despite its genre exploration, manages to sound incredibly cohesive despite being stuffed. Now, about a year and a half later after Treats, Sleigh Bells takes on the sophomore slump with their new album Reign of Terror.

Reign of Terror starts out with the listener hearing Krauss screaming at a cheering crowd over heavy guitar. It's the beginning of the albums best song, called "True Shred Guitars". It sounds exactly like a Sleigh Bells album should, with heavy riffs and loud drums and great vocals. But at the same time it's a hell of a promise to start an album by saying that you have the power to move a crowd like that. The album better be good after that kind of a statement. Plus after such an opening, you would expect a loud and riff heavy album, or basically, the kind of album that's full of tunes to fill an arena. 

Yet after that promising opening, things start to fall apart. Sleigh Bells slowly starts to feel neutered as the album progresses. The angry immediacy and harsh sounds of Treats have disappeared in order for more lush production to take its place. The thing that hurts the most about this is that the diverse production on Treats was the fuel of that album. It sounded like nothing else out there. And on this new album, Sleigh Bells of now even sounds nothing like the Sleigh Bells of less than two years ago. They still have a bit of that Sleigh Bells sound of hard guitar and heavy beats, but with Reign of Terror, they have started to sound like any other indie band. 

While a few songs like "Born to Lose", "Comeback Kid," and "Never Say Die" stick out as highlights along with the previously mentioned "True Shred Guitars," they are rather dull other than the latter. There doesn't really seem to be anything behind them; they just seem to exist without any real meaning or feeling behind them. Not helping the songs is that they all seem to sound the same. Nothing really sticks out as unique or interesting. 

This is all not to say Reign of Terror is a bad album. It's actually pretty decent and cohesive in the sense that all the songs have similar sounds and ideas, though that tends to be more of a fault than a blessing for this album. For any other band, Reign of Terror would stand as a good addition to their catalog. But who wants just a decent, pretty derivative album after you've put out an album that was critically loved for how diverse and unique it was?   

While it's a shame Sleigh Bells couldn't capitalize on the success of Treats with a worthwhile follow up it isn't surprising. It's hard to think of a band that has successfully avoided the sophomore slump. And while it's annoying that they have hit the slump, there is no doubt they are still a great band. Treats is a fantastic album; though, after Reign of Terror, some people may try to call them out as flukes. This is a mistake. Sleigh Bells have such a unique and interesting sound that they aren't going anywhere. The unfortunate thing is that they just seem to have lost track of it on this album.