Philadelphia's Reign Supreme burst onto the hardcore scene in 2006 with great intensity. Fronted by former Blacklisted member Jay Pepito and also featuring former members of Palehorse and others, Reign Supreme deliver a highly visceral and punishing blend of metallic hardcore. American Violence is their latest EP, the follow-up to a demo and a 12" single.
Reign Supreme knock on the door and get things going with "I Stand Defiant." The song has a nice pace to it and a good mid-song breakdown. It then closed out with a solid sing-along, which is probably a pile-on extravaganza at shows. "Iscariot" and "To a Dead God" push things along and up the heaviness to a whole new level. "Still Unbroken" reminded me a bit of mosh-inspired hardcore bands like Merauder, Cast Aside, and Born from Pain. "Faithless" rounded things out with some killer guitars and another solid breakdown.
Overall, American Violence is a fairly good offering from one of hardcore's latest rising stars. The EP is short and to the point, but it doesn't really have any variety to it. There was a song or two on the demo with some "clean" vocals, which gave it a little pizzazz. It'd be nice to hear some of that at work on the full-length.
