Hardcore outfit Gallows are a hardly recognisable beast these days. Having replaced original frontman Frank Carter in 2011 with former Alexisonfire bassist Wade MacNeill, the five-piece then became a four-piece in 2013 with the departure of Frank’s brother and guitarist Stephen. But if they’ve hit some bumps in the road, fourth album Desolation Sounds finds them in confident form.
They’ve certainly lost none of their fire. Opener Mystic Death and the utterly brutal Leviathan Rot are as heavy as anything they’ve produced, screaming guitars and thumping percussion underlining MacNeill’s gravel-scratched growls. But Gallows have always provided something more than noise, and Desolation Sounds sees the band determined to push the sonic envelope. Chains bookends a vicious chorus positively dripping with malevolence with eerie and ethereal female vocals. Bonfire Season meanwhile is a swampy, deeply sinister number that dials back the screaming in favour of layered, complex tones – it’s certainly one of the most interesting things they’ve ever done.
That said, not all the experimentation works. 93/93 ends up sounding far too like Marilyn Manson for its own good, and while you almost admire Gallows for daring to include something which sounds suspiciously like a ballad (Cease to Exist), it’s not terribly good.
Still, the phrases ‘hardcore’ and ‘progressive’ are not normally ones found side by side; Gallows’ ambition is a rare treat. And as the last mournful strains of album closer Swan Song fade into a sudden burst of static, it becomes clear that, while the departure of the Carters has seen Gallows lose some of the raw threatening violence of their old records, they remain a band standing head and shoulders over most of their peers.
7/10
The Mongoose 