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Feb 21, 2012That's not to say that the siren-squeal guitars and drum-machine breakbeats aren't still a blast; but on Reign of Terror, Sleigh Bells have started thinking about what happens underneath them.
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Mar 21, 2012Reign of Terror is evidence that these kids never stopped Armageddonit even once they got punk cool.
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Mar 5, 2012Elsewhere it's just sweet sensation. Succumb‑-succumb.
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Mar 5, 2012Sleigh Bells take one of the most confident and surefooted steps forward a band could take for a follow-up album, eschewing the storied sophomore pitfalls in favor of a sharper, fuller sound.
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Feb 28, 2012Sleigh Bells may have topped themselves here, but it's a case of more being less.
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Feb 28, 2012Reign of Terror builds on the success of Treats without breaking from it, establishing Krauss and Miller as masters of their craft.
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Feb 28, 2012Sleigh Bells' sophomore LP is unlikely to be met with the same peerless adulation as its predecessor, but Reign of Terror still seduces with an uncanny knack for extracting a pioneering spirit out of musty source material.
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Feb 27, 2012While it can feel like juvenilia, it's in a very endearing way, a catalogue of the catharsis of a high-school misfit.
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Feb 23, 2012Reign Of Terror still sounds like Sleigh Bells, but a more polite and conservative version.
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Feb 23, 2012Whereas Treats was chopped and spat,Reign Of Terror galumphs like the proverbial leviathan it is.
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Feb 23, 2012While Reign Of Terror may not possess anything quite as startlingly infectious as Infinity Guitars, Sleigh Bells' return shows that they are more than a one-trick pony.
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Feb 22, 2012The way they've leapfrogged their contemporaries in terms of ambition and scope is terrifying. Sleigh Bells are, once again, in a league of their own.
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Feb 22, 2012Mark Reign of Terror down as a fairly successful, but ultimately transitional work.
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Feb 21, 2012Extremely loud, snarling and exciting, it takes the duo's signature mash-up of '80s metal, '50s girl-group and '70s arena-rock sensibilities and cranks up the tension to Adderall-overdose levels.
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Feb 21, 2012On Reign Of Terror, Sleigh Bells is cornered in by its own sound, unwilling to risk more adventurous metal excursions or get vulnerable enough to fully embrace its emerging lighter side.
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Feb 21, 2012To put it simply where Treats was the party soundtrack, Reign of Terror is the entire party.
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Feb 21, 2012Reign of Terror plays like a band with original ideas who got stuck in quicksand.
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Feb 21, 2012With Reign of Terror Sleigh Bells proves they've got more than one formula they can tear apart.
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Feb 21, 2012Nuance and volume are tough to pull off, and though Reign of Terror at times sacrifices the former for the latter, it's nevertheless an often thrilling experience.
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Feb 21, 2012The net result is a lack of texture and the element of surprise that made this album's predecessor so wonderfully seductive.
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Feb 21, 2012Sleigh Bells pull off this more sophisticated and nuanced approach without calling attention to their improved craft or maturity.
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Feb 21, 2012Reign of Terror is way awesomer [than Treats].
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Feb 21, 2012Having lost the shock of the new, this more tuneful follow-up privileges Krauss's pop instincts over Miller's mayhem.
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Feb 21, 2012The problem is that all of the moves feel like they're pointed in the wrong direction.
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Feb 21, 2012While Reign of Terror may not yield results that are as instantly and consistently compelling as Treats did, the latest album has the potential to grow on you.
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Feb 21, 2012Unsurprisingly, the album sounds best when it goes for broke; the more looped, harmonizing Krausses and miniature guitar solos, the better.
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Feb 21, 2012Heavy-breathing sex chants with a heart of darkness.
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Feb 17, 2012Unlike Treats, Reign Of Terror never feels new, fresh or exciting; it just feels like a chore.
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Feb 17, 2012Reign is more nuanced and varied in sound than Treats was.
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Feb 17, 2012Boy-girl group pop-rock that's polished and pleasing.
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Feb 16, 2012When the wrecking ball stops swinging, however, there are moments of emotional weightiness ('Leader Of The Pack') and glimpses of tenderness ('End Of The Line') that give this LP a more human edge.
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Feb 16, 2012Everything is enormously compressed, then amplified: it's claustrophobic and oppressive, but without having any particular power.
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Feb 16, 2012Reign of Terror, their follow-up, features all the cheap boom-box beats and Guitar Hero riffs that made their debut such a head rush.
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Under The RadarMar 21, 2012Packs a visceral wallop, at moments far more bruising than anything on their predecessor. [Mar 2012, p.86]
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Kerrang!Mar 12, 2012It's impressive to hear how Sleigh Bells rock so hard with so little. [19 Feb 2012, p.52]
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MojoFeb 27, 2012An effortless conflation of over-amped belligerence and feisty pop mellifluousness. [Mar 2012, p.94]
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Q MagazineFeb 21, 2012Stunning. [Mar 2012, p. 96]
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UncutFeb 16, 2012Derek Miller's flashy axemanship and Alexis Krauss' swoon are compromised by sanitized production. [Mar 2012, p.98]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 58 out of 70
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Mixed: 9 out of 70
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Negative: 3 out of 70
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Feb 22, 2012
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Feb 21, 2012
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Mar 22, 2012