Pink Floyd’s ugly fraternal twin has been found in Gallows. For every ounce of musicianship and societal insight Floyd possessed, Gallows echoes with their grimy rifts and brutal lyrics. Even though Gallows’ music is slightly generic and seems to be caged by chord progressions, the band overcomes this with lyrics that can only be described as the scourge of English high society.  Their American debut “Orchestra of Wolves” acts as Frank Carter’s personal diary, a vent from which the angst of his upbringing and the drudgery of day to day life in lower class England explodes.

Carter unwittingly keeps the tradition of English literature alive in his verses. His carnal lyrics are laced with grotesque, modernized, Aesop caricatures, biblical illusions, and express an insecure world of lust, violence and unresolved childhood issues all wrapped in a testosterone charged delivery.  However, the lyrical depth discovered in the terse verses is offset by some boorish English euphemisms that only mask the insecurities of the bands. In all, Gallows’ punk rock and post hardcore sound complement the desperate lyrics of “Orchestra of Wolves” and ensure the band a following across the Atlantic.

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