Gallows - Orchestra of Wolves (Reissue) (Warners)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
I'm going to ignore questions of selling out by signing to a major, and the whole re-release thing, and just review the music that's actually here. Is that cool with everyone? OK. Then let's begin. Hold on tight.
'Kill The Rhythm' gives you a glimpse of what to expect right from the off. If you're in to it, you can expect it to get better. If you can't stomach it, you can walk the plank right now - though you'd be a fool to get off this ride before the marvellous 'Abandon Ship', the most hook laden and At The Drive In-like thing on this remarkable debut and the song that birthed the cumbersome metaphor earlier in this very sentence.
Eventually, even the shouts and the chords that sit at first uncomfortably next to each other become really rather catchy ('Come Friendly Bombs' being a case in point) - you'll bellow along, if only in your head. Your voice doesn't sound like Frank Carters, and your impressions make you look like a 'tard.
Want to get your friends in to Gallows? Go straight for 'In The Belly of a Shark' - with a riff that sounds like it needs more fingers to play than anything other than some kind of mutant human being could ever possess, it's the first moment of brilliance on 'Orchestra of Wolves'. Fear not, for there are many other moments which match this achievement, but it's as if all that's been carrying the record for the first two tracks is the sheer momentum of the playing, whereas what sets Gallows apart is the fact that in 'Abandon Ship' and 'In The Belly of a Shark' they've got some f**king corking tunes under their belt.
For 'Six Years' they allow the record a bit of space - there are at least three beats in a row where guitars aren't being hit, something of a rare occurrence on this record. Still, it's frighteningly intense. 'Last Fight for the Living Dead' is elsewhere a dubby, noisy, instrumental piece drawn out for a brief sixty seconds because they know that this is a record and not a live set, and people need a chance to get their heads together. They don't give them long though, as after a mere minute (precisely) they're leading you in to 'Just Because You Sleep Next To Me Doesn't Mean You're Safe', which captures Frank's uttering of the words "I never want to f**king see you again" in a way that sends you straight back to when you first fell in love with the band live, with his wide open eyes glaring out of his ginger topped head, terrifying you as you made eye contact.
That's the thing about this record - it's main (sole?) purpose is to make you think, sh*t, that would be bloody brilliant live. Thing is, on record, when you can't see Gallows, when you can't physically feel them, it all gets a bit much. Live, that doesn't matter one bit, but there are moments on record at least where you'd be forgiven for not 'getting' it. Thankfully, despite a mid album lull of monotonous pummelling, it ends kinda brilliantly. The closing title track is one of the most astounding pieces of punk rock you'll ever have heard, lyrically both a repulsive and thought provoking look at the attitude of your general male towards women ("I want you to wake up and remember my name when you're washing my cum off your f**king face"), it could be easily misunderstood as a piece of misogynist filth. However, Gallows' claim that it is in fact a love song holds water. This is the sound of punk adopting a character, in the same way that hip hop often does, to criticise it. And by making men come across as repulsively as this, they've succeeded far better than they would have if they took a preaching approach.
The bonus CD (six admittedly brilliantly performed BBC session tracks, a couple of newer songs and a cover of Black Flag's 'Nervous Breakdown') is fun and all, but if it were a stand alone release, you wouldn't fork out that much for it. So why should you care about this album, and Gallows as a whole? Other than the fact that not having an opinion on them at the minute means you're something of an anomaly on the current music scene? Here's why - the thing about Gallows is that the cogs in their brain turn as fast as their astoundingly passionate heart beats. That's the only reason, and the only one you should need, why you should give a sh*t.
Stream two tracks from 'Orchestra of Wolves' HERE.
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