Regents: Antietam After Party

Regents, made up of members from influential post-hardcore bands Maximillian Colby, Sleepytime Trio, Frodus, Men’s Recovery Project, Battery, Thursday and Combat Wounded Veteran, are set to release their debut LP, Antietam After Party, this November. Made up of 10 short, fast and intense numbers, the disc isn’t for the faint of heart. “Please Feel Me Dear Human” starts off the release with a smooth bass intro until the drums and guitar splatter through it. For a song that is just over a minute long and kicks off with mind-blowing drums, “Start To Beginning” flips the switch and sends Antietam After Party into high gear.

The quartet shows that they have a darker side to them with one of the longer cuts on the disc. “Swell As Well” creeps in like a shadow from the blackest corner. The chilling guitars and heart-pounding drums mixed in with the sharp vocals makes the fourth song on the collection one of the stronger ones. From the first listen, it took time for Regents to really sink in, but by the time “Swell As Well” rolled around it was hard to deny just how strong the four-piece really are. Gritty harmonies seal the deal with “Listen To Sorry,” one of the catchier pieces. The final number of Regents’ debut LP, “Rest Insured,” begins with a spoken word bit, which continues well into when the hesitating strings come in. “Rest Insured” has the sweetest riffs and closes out Antietam After Party on such a powerful note that it’s hard to resist playing the entire release again.

In A Word: Smashing