Taste of Chaos Tour @ Academy
Perhaps Gallows' ambition is writing cheques their credibility can't cash
| 06 Jan 2008
Before even getting to Gallows tonight we must contest with The Blackout (1/5), who peddle emo-metal at its most refined and tedious. The occasional faux beat-down and a non-ironic appreciation of Iron Maiden are both in there, scuffling about beneath acutely predictable dual-vocals. In a genre choked with the likes of 30 Seconds to Mars, The Blackout are simply another yelping coyote, clawing desperately at metal's sorry carcass for their grizzly share of the Kerrang! teenage demographic. It's an ugly spectacle to behold.
In contrast, Gallows (2/5) have built their considerable reputation rolling over sweaty heads across the UK as boys with earplugs point towards the sky and the mic-cable knots its way around another clenched fist. Tonight, standing some 50 feet away from the band as they skip from one side of the Carling stage to the other, it's difficult not to feel short-changed. The dynamics and complexity of the music get lost in the Academy's cavernous interior and the fury of the songs gradually dissipates as it spreads through the room, eventually making contact with our ears as a confused rumble rather than the all-out wallop that saw them originally invited onto this bill.
The 'Taste Of Chaos' tour has ultimately left Gallows open to shouts of "guilty by association" as they link arms with some of metal's most vapid and banal. It may well do great things for their market presence but, in the notoriously fickle world of hardcore, perhaps Gallows' ambition is writing cheques their credibility can't cash. [Austin Tasseltine]
In contrast, Gallows (2/5) have built their considerable reputation rolling over sweaty heads across the UK as boys with earplugs point towards the sky and the mic-cable knots its way around another clenched fist. Tonight, standing some 50 feet away from the band as they skip from one side of the Carling stage to the other, it's difficult not to feel short-changed. The dynamics and complexity of the music get lost in the Academy's cavernous interior and the fury of the songs gradually dissipates as it spreads through the room, eventually making contact with our ears as a confused rumble rather than the all-out wallop that saw them originally invited onto this bill.
The 'Taste Of Chaos' tour has ultimately left Gallows open to shouts of "guilty by association" as they link arms with some of metal's most vapid and banal. It may well do great things for their market presence but, in the notoriously fickle world of hardcore, perhaps Gallows' ambition is writing cheques their credibility can't cash. [Austin Tasseltine]