Iron Reagan, the local thrash supergroup that brings together members of Municipal Waste, Suppression, Cannabis Corpse, ANS, Hellbear, and more, have been riding a wave of critical acclaim since releasing their debut album earlier this year on A389 Records.
Iron Reagan, the local thrash supergroup that brings together members of Municipal Waste, Suppression, Cannabis Corpse, ANS, Hellbear, and more, have been riding a wave of critical acclaim since releasing their debut album earlier this year on A389 Records. Worse Than Dead blows through 19 songs in about 28 minutes with a classic crossover sound that hearkens back to prime-era DRI, Sacred Reich, Anthrax, The Accused, and other thrash titans who stood with one foot on each side of the dividing line between hardcore and metal.
While vocalist Tony Foresta’s aggressive yell is very familiar from the past decade-plus of Municipal Waste albums, he leavens the humorous bent of that band’s lyrics with a dose of real political concern, attacking issues with all of the righteous anger you’d expect from a band with a Ronald Reagan reference in their name. “Cycle Of Violence,” which has been available online since before the album was released but has just received its very own video, is a great example of the band’s political conscience, dealing as it does with violent uprisings that can spring up seemingly from nowhere. As Foresta explained to Punknews last year, the song comes from “a sad or pissed off perspective. I was talking to my friend this morning, and there was a shooting just down the street,” he lamented. “In Richmond, it hasn’t been that bad lately because of the college taking over everywhere. Just coming up from that whole perspective in the city, that’s where that [song] comes from.” It’s true that Richmond’s violence problem hasn’t been as bad in recent years as it once was–and we’re all glad of that–but it’s no surprise to see the issue lingering in the minds of local citizens.
Photo by Julie Ferguson
The video for “Cycle Of Violence,” which is directed by Dave Brodsky, recalls the same sort of political unrest from past decades that is brought to mind by Iron Reagan’s name. The entire video is filmed as it flickers across the screen of an old 80s-style console television, complete with chunky dials for changing the channel. This distancing effect adds visible grain and leaves the colors of the video footage blown out and distorted, but also recalls the gritty feel of Headbangers Ball classics like Megadeth’s “Peace Sells” and Ministry’s “N.W.O.” Whether this also detracts from the seriousness of the political content to be found in both the lyrics of the song and the images in the video is a question best answered by each individual viewer. However, the combined effect of some great Iron Reagan live footage and the evening news-like clips of tanks and riots that are interspersed throughout the video is invigorating, and will definitely result in some living room mosh pits.
Local fans can also mosh it up with Iron Reagan during their tour with GWAR, Whitechapel, and Band Of Orcs, which kicks off tonight in Columbus, Ohio, and will bring the band back to the VA area (though not to Richmond, sadly) on November 2 and again on November 17. November 2 sees the tour stopping at The Norva (tickets for that show are available here), while it will be at the 9:30 Club on November 17 (tickets for that show can be purchased here). Iron Reagan’s Worse Than Dead is still available as well–grab the vinyl from A389 here, the CD here, or download the digital version here.
By Andrew Necci
