As Rome Burns - 'Reactor' EP Review

Sean Friswell
41 minutes ago
2 min read

Tracklist:

Animal
I Am Your Enemy
I Think You Should Leave

As Rome Burns advertise themselves as an alternative, punk, grunge band – and while I didn’t exactly know what that would sound like going into this single, the moment I listened, I realised that it’s a perfect description of their sound.

The EP starts with “Animal” – A track that bubbles over with raw power and a cathartic sense of anger. The chorus is singable, but for me the sheer screams of the verses are the bits that stick in my head.

“I Am Your Enemy” is track two, and this is probably my favourite track of the EP. A more-than-brief six and a half minute track, this starts quiet and pensive before smashing full force into an anthemic chorus. I love the whole vibe of this song – especially that it feels in no rush to finish, and nor should it. The whole thing is perfect and a really great listen.

“I Think You Should Leave” is faster and funkier than the other two songs – it’s almost grunge Red Hot Chilli Peppers in vibe, which I am definitely down for. Again, the chorus is one of those you can picture a crowd screaming along with while pogoing for their lives and banging heads, so they are clearly doing something right!

This is a great EP – these three songs showcase different aspects of the band while coming together as a whole experience as well. The production is both raw and polished – which sounds like an oxymoron but isn’t.

My one minor downside is that I do wonder whether the performance on record is a bit regined in – it feels like maybe the vocals get a bit more intense live, and if that’s the case it would have been nice to have that reflected on the EP – but that’s just a minor nitpick.

On the whole, this is a great release, and two of the tracks have already been added to my own personal “best songs of 2025” playlist, which should be emblematic of just how much I enjoyed this single.