Gallows

Demo 2005 (2005)

Rob Evans

I am not going to review Gallows' Grey Britain because I have absolutely no desire to listen to it. To be honest, Gallows reached their peak with their first demo, and there's really no need to ever listen to anything else. Containing only five songs over 15 minutes, three of which were re-recorded for Orchestra of Wolves, their debut demo from 2005 showcases them at their most raw, their most brief and their most bearable.

Whilst their first full-length got tiresome and dragged on when you realized the band weren't actually doing anything of any particular interest (and I assume that Grey Britain, at 52 minutes, is even worse), the demo is over before all of this sinks in, and is much more enjoyable for it.

The couple of tracks with keyboards sound a little more hilariously tacky, the recording is a little less polished, but pleasingly so, and "Swarm Over Death" is the closest Gallows have come to sounding like `80s hardcore; it's easily my favourite track by the band. Frank Carter also seems to play his accent up a bit less on these recordings, which is definitley preferable.

If you had previously written Gallows off, then give this a quick blast.