Reign Supreme “Sky Burial” Album Review (metal)
Reign Supreme
Sky Burial
Mediaskare Records
Review by Jacob Ray
Recent Mediaskare Records pick up, Philly’s Reign Supreme put out their first release on the label on February 19th, 2013. The release is a 7 song EP entitled Sky Burial and is available now. The band has no tour plans announced yet, but one can only assume that something will be announced in the new future to help promote Sky Burial.
Available Now
Track Listing
1. “It Feels Like a Thousand Years”
2. “Heartsick”
3. “Stuck Pig, Bled Dry”
4. “The Hopelessly Devoted”
5. “In Tongues”
6. “Eighteen & Bulletproof”
7. “Guilty”
Admittedly, I haven’t really given Reign Supreme a solid listen before I got my hands on this EP, so understand that I am not coming from a place of familiarity with their past discography. Being that Sky Burial was released on Mediaskare, I thought I had a good idea of what the EP would sound like. Turns out, I was only about half right in my prediction. “It Feels Like a Thousand Years” is definitely an interesting choice for the opening song of an EP, as slower, mission statement-type songs are typically placed at the end of full-lengths. But, because it is a little different, it makes you more curious about what the rest of the record is going to sound like. A very effective little bit of experimentation on Reign Supremes’ part. The second song, “Heartsick” didn’t really do anything for me. I felt it sounded a little too generic because it was extremely centered around the breakdown and the gang vocals. I understand that breakdowns and gang vocals are a central part of this type of hardcore, but the opening track had me hoping for something a little different, and I didn’t really get that out of “Heartsick”.
The next song, “Stuck Pig, Bled Dry”, turned it around though. It sounded like a mix of Terror and Napalm Death, two things that I like. The intro reminded me of a couple of songs off of the last Napalm Death record, and the Terror influence prevails throughout the entire EP. I also really like the sludgy guitars at the end, an interesting mix of sounds in an overall great song. “The Hopelessly Devoted” is an extremely fast and heavy hardcore song. The intro is great and I really like the way they switch back and forth between the faster guitar and drum parts and the slower, sludgy parts. “In Tongues” and “Eighteen and Bulletproof” close out the “body” of the album. They obviously have their differences but, for brevity’s sake, they are fast and heavy and interesting enough to keep you from getting bored.
I must say, “Eighteen and Bulletproof”, while being a good song, is kind of a bummer because after it is done, you just sit there and think “Goddammit, I’m worth nothing”. The album comes to a close with “Guilty” a really groovy, heavy song, although it’s about a minute and a half too long in my opinion. “Guilty” does bring Sky Burial’s sound full circle, because this song is similar to “It Feels Like a Thousand Years”, although it is notably less optimistic. Overall, Sky Burial is a good EP. I would definitely check out the next release because of it, and I would also make an effort to see Reign Supreme the next time they come to my neck of the woods. So if you like bands like Stray From The Path and Terror and all that good stuff, check out Reign Supreme and Sky Burial.
About the Author
Denise Borders 39, Los Angeles. Denise founded PWV in 2008 and remains the primary manager and photographer/videographer. She is not secretly obsessed with Joey Cape.
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