UMUR
"The Tyranny of Will" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US crossover act Iron Reagan. The album was released through Relapse Records in September 2014. Iron Reagan was formed in 2012 as a side-project by members of Municipal Waste and Darkest Hour. They released their debut full-length studio album "Worse Than Dead" in 2013.
The music on "The Tyranny of Will" is crossover, which in many ways sounds similar to frontman Tony Foresta´s main act Municipal Waste. The music on "The Tyranny of Will" is generally less thrashy and more hardcore oriented than what is usual for Municipal Waste but it´s impossible not to make comparisons with Tony Foresta fronting both acts, and when both acts play a style which is relatively similar. The lyrics are a bit more social/political issues themed than the more kitchy B-Horror movie lyrics of Municipal Waste, but other than that I´d say fans of Municipal Waste should have a party with "The Tyranny of Will".
Needless to say that featuring 25 tracks and at a full playing time of 32:50 minutes, "The Tyranny of Will" features very short tracks. The longest being the 4:01 minutes long "Four More Years" and the shortest being the 0:11 minutes long "Glocking Out". Most tracks are between 1 and 2 minutes in length. It´s effective and hard hitting material. Lots of raw energy, pounding fast rhythms, hardcore punk riffs with the occassional more thrashy touch, and Tony Foresta´s savage and aggressive vocals in front.
The material is generally well written but unfortunately also a bit one-dimensional. It helps with repeated listens, but there are ultimately too many tracks which don´t stand out. Some of the exceptions and standout tracks are "Miserable Failure" (which the band has made a video for), and "Consensual Harassment" (because it features female guest vocals by Luna Duran). The rest of the material is of a good quality too and nothing is as such sub par, but as mentioned the tracks generally sound too much the same.
"The Tyranny of Will" features a powerful and clear sound production, which suits the music well. A bit more grit could probably have given the music more hardcore credibility, but it´s hard to argue against a well sounding production like this one. So while Iron Reagan certainly doesn´t invent the wheel here, "The Tyranny of Will" is still a very effective and energetic crossover album and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.