Album Review: Reign Of Terror Sleigh Bells

Fast, furious and frenetic – welcome to Reign Of Terror. As the tension builds then explodes at the halfway point of opener True Shred Guitar, there's a definite sense that Sleigh Bells are a force to be reckoned with. With a reputation for a killer live show, Reign Of Terror proves a more-than-competent replacement your ears will be enjoying for a long time to come.

Reign Of Terror treads the line perfectly between killer tunes and all-out chaos – full of huge, stadium-friendly guitar riffs courtesy of Derek E Miller and the pop princess-meets-banshee vocals of singer Alexis Krauss. Propelled by heavy beats and with enough layering and effects to keep the most ardent of technological folk interested, Reign Of Terror is at times gratingly brutal, at others purely fragile.

The Brooklyn duo have only been around for a few years, yet have managed to hone a distinct sound in that time, distancing themselves from other female-fronted or two-piece bands. Reign Of Terror is their second album, and it kicks arse. This is not an album for early morning listening, for hangovers or for dinner parties. It's for when the chairs are pushed back, for underground clubs, and – eventually – for stadiums around the world.

Singles Comeback Kid and Born To Lose are poppier than most of the tracks, and although they're accessible and appealing, it's when Miller's riffs take centre stage (see Demons for instance), that Sleigh Bells are at their best. Unrelenting, unadulterated, unflinching. Like a syringe full of adrenalin, this shit is gonna have you on your feet.