Gallows - Grey Britain
This album was always going to be an important moment for Gallows. Since their debut, Orchestra Of Wolves - an album who's raw DIY feel was part of its charm - the band have exploded onto the scene, played all over the world and landed a deal with Warner offshoot Reprise. This time round money wasn't a constraint, and as a result the production is crisp and there's a whopping 30-piece orchestra! Not what you'd expect, but there's plenty of surprises in store. For all the quality, it still sounds like five men screaming at your face in a fleapit venue. They have not changed their style or experimented, yet only a couple of tracks would fit on Orchestra.... So it is that from its ominous opening to its dramatic conclusion, every single second of Grey Britain proves it is exactly the album Gallows needed to make.
Fury is the defining factor. You will have heard heavier than Gallows, you will have heard more screaming and more 'brootal' riffs, but you will not have heard anything as angry. This record seethes. It churns with a boiling rage not encountered on an album since... well, Orchestra Of Wolves. It's opening lyrics - "Grey Britain is burning down" - show the disgust that forms the crux of the album, and from that moment onwards it's pessimism, negativity, aggression and furious defiance all the way as Carter attacks religion, knife crime and our country's binge drinking culture.
Its progression from Orchestra... includes a heavier delivery - there are solo's and chuggery here more in common with metal than the hardcore punk they've been associated with, but punk is the prevailing feel of the album as the band rail against everyone from hoodies to The Man, inciting violence in closer 'Crucif*cks', calling out "child abusers, national front, rapists and racists, all f*cking scum". And it's not just finger pointing - we're all to blame. There are no solutions offered because there's not really much hope. Far from soap-boxing, however, this is as engaging as it is wrathful. For all its abrasiveness, there are hooks; the grooving riff at the end of 'Leeches', the way almost every track has gang chants for their devoted fans to roar back at them live - where these songs will undeniably be even more powerful.
Picking highlights is near impossible, because every track has something to offer; a riff to bang your head to, a line to scream along to, a theme to make you think, a connection or a truth to make your blood boil like Carter's. Instead, we can point you to standouts; 'The Riverbed' is their heaviest moment to date, an air-raid siren ushering in lyrics of unity amongst the pessimism and a delivery that could demolish buildings. 'The Vulture (Acts I & II)' prove a talking point thanks to Carter's clean vocals and acoustic guitar, a breather that sounds great and builds expectation for the arrival of the recent single. But if you want anticipation-raising build-ups look no further than the concussive 'Misery', who's piano and strings intro create the perfect tension before their most anthemic track to date, one infused with a disgusted rage only beaten by closer 'Crucif*cks', where Carter's voice sounds ready to fall apart, before ending with five minutes of gorgeous orchestration.
Gallows still sound like a band that could implode or explode at any moment, but they do not sound like a flash in the pan. There is hype and hyperbole that follows them, something that can often damage a band whether they give a shit or not. With Grey Britain they have lived up to and exceeded what was expected of them, and provided us with an oppressive album that is at times depressing and at times terrifying, but one that continually makes you want to go utterly apeshit in a mosh-pit, as well as one that makes you think - and that's perhaps the greatest surprise of all. Carter may sound a little OTT while hammering the point into your skull like a fist, but everything is falling apart. Arriving in a time of economic hardship, while our country's levels of booze-fuelled excess, violent crime and corruption continue to increase, Grey Britain may be merely a contender for best album of the year, but it is undoubtedly the front-runner for the most significant.
This album was always going to be an important moment for Gallows. Since their debut, Orchestra Of Wolves - an album who's raw DIY feel was part of its charm - the band have exploded onto the scene, played all over the world and landed a deal with Warner offshoot Reprise. This time round money wasn't a constraint, and as a result the production is crisp and there's a whopping 30-piece orchestra! Not what you'd expect, but there's plenty of surprises in store. For all the quality, it still sounds like five men screaming at your face in a fleapit venue. They have not changed their style or experimented, yet only a couple of tracks would fit on Orchestra.... So it is that from its ominous opening to its dramatic conclusion, every single second of Grey Britain proves it is exactly the album Gallows needed to make.
Fury is the defining factor. You will have heard heavier than Gallows, you will have heard more screaming and more 'brootal' riffs, but you will not have heard anything as angry. This record seethes. It churns with a boiling rage not encountered on an album since... well, Orchestra Of Wolves. It's opening lyrics - "Grey Britain is burning down" - show the disgust that forms the crux of the album, and from that moment onwards it's pessimism, negativity, aggression and furious defiance all the way as Carter attacks religion, knife crime and our country's binge drinking culture.
Its progression from Orchestra... includes a heavier delivery - there are solo's and chuggery here more in common with metal than the hardcore punk they've been associated with, but punk is the prevailing feel of the album as the band rail against everyone from hoodies to The Man, inciting violence in closer 'Crucif*cks', calling out "child abusers, national front, rapists and racists, all f*cking scum". And it's not just finger pointing - we're all to blame. There are no solutions offered because there's not really much hope. Far from soap-boxing, however, this is as engaging as it is wrathful. For all its abrasiveness, there are hooks; the grooving riff at the end of 'Leeches', the way almost every track has gang chants for their devoted fans to roar back at them live - where these songs will undeniably be even more powerful.
Picking highlights is near impossible, because every track has something to offer; a riff to bang your head to, a line to scream along to, a theme to make you think, a connection or a truth to make your blood boil like Carter's. Instead, we can point you to standouts; 'The Riverbed' is their heaviest moment to date, an air-raid siren ushering in lyrics of unity amongst the pessimism and a delivery that could demolish buildings. 'The Vulture (Acts I & II)' prove a talking point thanks to Carter's clean vocals and acoustic guitar, a breather that sounds great and builds expectation for the arrival of the recent single. But if you want anticipation-raising build-ups look no further than the concussive 'Misery', who's piano and strings intro create the perfect tension before their most anthemic track to date, one infused with a disgusted rage only beaten by closer 'Crucif*cks', where Carter's voice sounds ready to fall apart, before ending with five minutes of gorgeous orchestration.
Gallows still sound like a band that could implode or explode at any moment, but they do not sound like a flash in the pan. There is hype and hyperbole that follows them, something that can often damage a band whether they give a shit or not. With Grey Britain they have lived up to and exceeded what was expected of them, and provided us with an oppressive album that is at times depressing and at times terrifying, but one that continually makes you want to go utterly apeshit in a mosh-pit, as well as one that makes you think - and that's perhaps the greatest surprise of all. Carter may sound a little OTT while hammering the point into your skull like a fist, but everything is falling apart. Arriving in a time of economic hardship, while our country's levels of booze-fuelled excess, violent crime and corruption continue to increase, Grey Britain may be merely a contender for best album of the year, but it is undoubtedly the front-runner for the most significant.
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