Dechristianization of France during the French Revolution itself. There has been much scholarly debate over whether the movement was popularly motivated. The French Revolution initially began with attacks on church corruption and the wealth of the higher clergy, an action with which even many Christians could identify, since the Roman Catholic church held a dominant role in pre-revolutionary France. During a two-year period known as the Reign of Terror, the episodes of anti-clericalism grew more violent than any in modern European history. The new revolutionary authorities suppressed the church; abolished the Catholic monarchy; nationalized church property; exiled 30,000 priests and killed hundreds more. In October 1793 the
Reign of Terror (Sleigh Bells album) huge, and a press release described it as "the sonic equivalent of a beautiful shotgun to the head." Lyrically, "Reign of Terror" features songs that are emotionally heavy, differing from the songs on "Treats" which were described as "party music" by Miller. Sleigh Bells were rushed during the production of "Treats" and were unable to finish recording all of the songs they had written before they had to leave the studio to perform at scheduled tour dates. Not wanting to repeat this mistake, the duo set aside a lot of time in 2011 to record and produce "Reign of Terror".