Gallows - Grey Britain

Album Review by Jamie Scott | 23 Apr 2009
Album title: Grey Britain
Artist: Gallows
Label: Warner Brothers
Release date: 4 May

After a sinister opening gambit, Gallows get down to growling with a little more political venom than we've been accustomed to from the Herts quintet. Harnessing the negative energy of a society they propose is ignorant and desensitized while playing it like Refused - minus the absolute extremity - Gallows deliver vitriol aplenty on this, their major label debut. But, for all their railing against the machine, the band often resorts to simply ticking the boxes of hardcore pastiche while overlooking the more melodic moments of their previous effort in the name of "intensity". A cameo from Biffy Clyro's Simon Neil piques curiosity, but Grey Britain is disappointingly one-dimensional when you consider the originality to be found in other loud and aggressive music from around the country. For all the screaming and sloganeering, the record sounds a little tired and tuneless - casting some element of doubt on any perceived mainstream aspirations.

http://www.myspace.com/gallows