Capture The Crown – “Reign Of Terror” [Album Review]

“I hope you know this song is about you…” announces Capture The Crown frontman Jeffrey Wellfare during “Red Light District,” the first track proper on Reign Of Terror, the second album from the Australian metallers. Describing the subject matter of Reign Of Terror as “representing the end of a dark period in my life. Pure emotion translated through music,” there is no doubting that Wellfare is pouring his heart and soul into this album, but to describe the recording as “like nothing you’ve heard before,” is probably stretching it a little.

You see, while fundamentally there is nothing wrong with Reign Of Terror, it’s nothing we haven’t heard a million times before. Admittedly they’re very good at what they do but they’re in no way doing anything that could be described as unique. From the furious “To Whom It May Concern” to the blunt, aggression-filled “I Hate You,” Capture The Crown pack out this testosterone-filled album with some really solid songs but they’re songs that, nevertheless, hardly push the boundaries of heavy music. What they do; however, is mix the angst and the melody of the nu-metal sound with the brutality of the heavier end of the metalcore sound to create something that, as the brooding “Firestarter” demonstrates, is as devastating as it is catchy.

So, if you can get over the fact that Reign Of Terror isn’t an album full of the most original songs you’re ever likely to hear, you’ll discover songs like “Make War, Not Love,” where huge sing-along melodies are mashed up with brutal metal to create a sound that sits comfortably in that pile of discs marked “music to lose your shit to!”

Track Listing:

01. Reign Of Terror
02. Red Light District
03. Smirk
04. To Whom It May Concern
05. I Hate You
06. Oxy Sunrise
07. Beating The Blade
08. Firestarter
09. Make War, Not Love
10. Janina

Run Time: 32:32
Release Date: August 5, 2014

Check out the song “I Hate You”