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REIGN
Foul Territory EP

Self-released (2024)
Rating: 8/10

I’m blaming the bland band name for the fact I’ve not previously come across this Chicago, Illinois-based act. These thrashers formed in 2013 and have already released a brace of EPs, plus a live album – Live On WZRD 88.3 Chicago (2017) – and full-length studio outing – Destitute (2018) – so I’m somewhat embarrassed that they slipped under my radar.

Foul Territory is a strong six song release, as one would expect from a combo that’s been in existence for over 10 years. However, this is leaps and bounds better than acts like Evile who seem to get more attention. Reign plays a vicious thrash but with progressive layers and death metal tweaks, in turn resulting in a fascinating combination of the greyer areas of, say, Coroner and the crunch of Exodus or Heathen. I’m a massive Coroner fan so to hear such an influence excites me.

The vocals are seething rasps, the riffs are crisp and the percussion a volatile tirade, but most importantly this outing is clever. Reign doesn’t rely on silly humour; instead, you get snapped by an unorthodox quandary whereby colourless thrash fuses with kaleidoscopic technicality.

With ‘Murder Capital’ there is a dehydrated whip to proceedings as if one was transported back to the late-80s and early-90s, but for good measure some Lazarus A.D. was thrown into the mix. The vocals do have that tendency to drift into a contemporary rawness and at times they do grate and become generic, but because the aggression is so persistent and the music sporadically intricate there remains a freshness. Strangely, there are flashes of Death, Atheist and even Carcass at their most melodic to coincide with the scathing battering, perfect examples being ‘Concrete Tomb’ and ‘Departure’.

I hope this release propels Reign into the major thrash league because this EP claws the membranes with its mighty metallic claws.

Neil Arnold

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