Review: Iron Reagan - The Tyranny of Will
By Eric Perzanowski, Staff Writer
[Relapse Records; 2014]
Rating: 6.5/10
Key Tracks: "Miserable Failure," "Four More Years," "U Lock the Bike Cop"
“Supergroups” are a concept in music that can go two ways. The idea of already established and acclaimed musicians collaborating can make one shout in joy at the potentially transcendent musical fusions that stand to exist. Unfortunately, many times for whatever reason, such partnerships will turn out to be underwhelming.
In the case of Iron Reagan, it didn’t even occur to me that this band was a supergroup for the longest time, simply because the band’s sound has such a strong dynamic to it. This directly opposes some sonic alliances put together by the heads of a record label.
Iron Reagan is a crossover of hardcore punk and thrash metal, a side-project featuring members of Municipal Waste and Darkest Hour. With a demo, EP and full-length album already in the band’s catalog, The Tyranny of Will continues to successfully portray what the band’s all about.
This album features 25 songs over the span of 33 minutes, resulting in a plethora of very short songs. Apart from “Four More Years,” which lasts over four minutes, there are only three songs which hit the two-minute mark. As is the case with Municipal Waste's work--although Municipal Waste songs are typically slightly longer--the band packs enough material in each song to make it musically worthwhile and memorable.
Part of The Tyranny of Will’s charm is found in the lyrics; this is true of nearly all of Iron Reagan’s discography. Lyrically, the band takes a straightforward, no-bullshit approach, which makes sense as many of the lyrics take on social and political themes.
The way the words fit into the structure of some tracks adds to their power. “Four More Years” is chorus-driven and the lyrics make a point via repetition, whereas “Nameless” has less of a structure but the lyrics only need to be said once to get the point across: “You have to know that no god thinks it's right / To murder helpless people, to end their lives.”
There are several instances of dark humor and satire. These occurrences add power to the more serious material due to the contrast. For example, the song “Nameless” discusses religious extremists killing for their god, whereas two tracks later there’s “Your Kid’s An Asshole.”
In musical style this is similar to Municipal Waste, which makes sense considering Tony Foresta’s distinct voice and the recognizable riffs from guitarist Landphil Hall. Although there is certainly plenty of punk heard in Municipal Waste’s music, the influence is definitely more prominent with Iron Reagan.
Compared to Iron Reagan’s first album, Worse Than Dead, The Tyranny of Will is mostly on par. However, Worse Than Dead had slightly more engaging riffs and I personally enjoyed the lyrics a bit more.
Even though Iron Reagan is technically a “side-project” for several esteemed musicians, there is something to this band that transcends the typical expectations of a supergroup. If one is a fan of Municipal Waste or crossover thrash in general, it’s hard to see why they wouldn’t enjoy Iron Reagan’s latest work.
