Gallows
Grey Britain
Play Grey Britain
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AMG Review of Grey Britain
Jason Lymangrover
All Music GuideIt's no easy task to follow up a record that harvested as much hype as the Gallows' biting 2006 debut, Orchestra of Wolves. Many music mags (Kerrang! and NME, especially) touted the band as the second coming of hardcore punk and the praises were well-founded. Drenched in irony, Frank Carter's frighteningly hedonistic lyrics matched the icky literary prowess of Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho, and the group's savage intensity recalled early U.K. punk and American hardcore at its finest. After touring some arena-sized festivals, Warped Tours, and whatnot, they rethought their plans of attack for their sophomore attempt, Grey Britain, and ultimately came to a decision to revamp their sound with a metal edge. There's the same screaming angst and relentless speed that was celebrated in their first outing, but now Carter's shrieks are backed by double kick drums and explosive speed metal guitar riffs that have more in common with Slayer and early Metallica than Black Flag or the Exploited. Shifting into metalcore territory is a tricky decision, since a lot of their initial appeal was due to the fact that they were making their own personal stamp on revitalizing punk -- a genre that's becoming increasingly saturated with commercialism. Here, they seem less unique. Part of this can be attributed to producer GGGarth, the man responsible for making Mudvayne, Slipknot, and Atreyu come alive on disc. Brittle guitar tones and off-kilter rhythms are substituted for thick, beefy tones and massive group shouts on the choruses, resulting in songs like "We Are the Night" and "Graves." In the disc's most unlikely moment, "The Vulture (Acts I & II)" begins with two minutes of a sweetly sung, soothing acoustic ballad -- complete with strings -- before flipping into a tight, furious, headbanging anthem. Those not banging their heads will likely be scratching them, wondering what the Gallows are really all about and where they're headed next.
Gallows: Grey Britain
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You know how punk was supposed to be a great equalisation between listener and performer. How it offered fans a chance to be part of action, and not just if you were a skanky blonde with no moral standards or self-respect.
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Ryan's Favorite Albums of 2009
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by Ryan BuegeSome people might have qualms with the amount of hardcore and punk that shows up in my list – I am contributing to "Metal" Injection after all. Whatever. These albums that were chosen were the ones from 2009 that impressed me the most, regardless of genre. If you don't like it, make your [...]
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GIVEAWAY: Win a Gallows Prizepack (LIMITED EDITION DOUBLE VINYL OF GREY BRITAIN!)
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We always like to give away AWESOME FREE PRIZES to our readers and we have something truly awesome for you this week. We're giving away a GALLOWS prizepack that includes a copy of their new album Grey Britain on CD, a DVD, and a LIMITED EDITION SPLASH DOUBLE VINYL of ...
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MOG it up!
SPIN names the best 40 albums of the year.
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Julian C is between the DP album and the TCV album. I love one and can't stand the other. essentially, I love about half of the list, and cannot stand the other half. it was really nice to see Girls' Album in the top five though.what is really interesting about this list is it reminded me of an album I had completely forgotten about...Antony and the Johnson's The Crying Light. damn good album.a...
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Gallows: Grey Britain
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Artist:
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Album:
You know how punk was supposed to be a great equalisation between listener and performer. How it offered fans a chance to be part of action, and not just if you were a skanky blonde with no moral standards or self-respect.
More >
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