Iron Reagan: Ron To The Hills

Fronted by Tony Foresta, better known as vocalist with thrash nutjobs Municipal Waste, Iron Reagan are bringing back the fire and fury of politicised 80s hardcore.

Masters of short, sharp bursts of snotty rage that routinely clock in under the one-minute mark, Tony’s new band began as a fun side-project two years ago.

“It started during downtime between touring with Municipal Waste and we were just playing shows around Richmond, but then it just exploded in our faces!” he states. “We put our first album out and it did really well and got crazy reviews, and suddenly everyone started asking us to play everywhere.”

The new Iron Reagan album crams an extraordinary 24 tracks into its 32 breathless minutes.

“I have a short attention span, so 40 seconds is all you can grab me for!” Tony laughs. “It’s got to be really catchy if it’s a long song. I don’t like hearing the same riff 47 times. People are more intelligent than that. Sometimes people process things faster and they want to move onto something different. So this is for people with Attention Deficit Disorder!”

Now that he finds himself singing with two highly rated bands, Tony’s diary for the next couple of years is filling up rapidly. Iron Reagan should be crossing the Atlantic very soon, bringing their righteous bursts of bug-eyed noise to the European masses and reminding everyone of an era when a goofy Hollywood star ruled the US like some deranged cartoon führer.

“Ronald Reagan was the poster child for evil back in the days of 80s hardcore,” notes Tony. “We all know it’s a play on words and it rhymes with Iron Maiden, right? But we’re a hardcore band with a real edge and, I guess, a sound that goes back to the 80s.

“I could’ve called the band Iron Thatcher, but people in Virginia wouldn’t have got that! Ha ha ha!”

Tyranny Of Will is out now via Relapse

Dom Lawson began his inauspicious career as a music journalist in 1999. He wrote for Kerrang! for seven years, before moving to Metal Hammer and Prog Magazine in 2007. His primary interests are heavy metal, progressive rock, coffee, snooker and despair. He is politically homeless and has an excellent beard.