(written by Islander)
About two and a half years ago we gleefully premiered a song named “Claws and Fangs” from a then-forthcoming EP by the Polish black-thrashing maniacs in Gallower. We introduced it with the observation that “Gallower incite a riot of violence that skillfully melds the Teutonic legendry of Destruction, Sodom, Kreator, and Violent Force with the first-wave black magick of Bathory, Hellhammer, Venom, and Japan’s Sabbat.”
And now, with equal devil-horned glee, we’re helping spread the word that Gallower will be returning on March 28th of this year with their second full-length, aptly titled Vengeance & Wrath, in collaboration again with Dying Victims Productions. And again, we’re happily hosting the premiere of one of the Gallower songs off the new record — “Bubonic Breath“.
Dying Victims reminds us of what Gallower bring to listeners: “Since their formation in 2015, the band have become a bastion of old-school metal, raw aggression, blistering energy, and a dark medieval aesthetic. Their lyrics immerse listeners in the shadowy world of GALLOWER, a 15th-century land where magic, monsters, and unholy evil reign supreme.”
How do Gallower expel their musical bubonic plague on the song you’re about to hear? They do it in several ways — with neck-snapping beats and witchy riffing that swirls like fiendish spells, with bracing rhythmic gallops and fleet-fingered fretwork that viciously sizzles, and with rabid vocals that savagely bark and scream like some half-punk, half-wolf creature raging from the throne of an ancient castle hall.
They drive the song hard and fast but continually switch the riffs and the rhythms, turning up the heat even higher with blasting drums and maniacally blazing chords, but they also throttle back and create sensations that are diabolically sinister (and highly headbangable), capping that episode with a ringing and supernaturally swirling guitar solo that’s even more seductively witchy than what has come before.
And then it’s off to the races again, with riffs of glory and macabre ecstasy, gang shouts, and one last display of fast gear-shifting by the rhythm section. Like the plague for which the song is named, the song is also damned infectious:
GALLOWER is:
Mighty Tzar – Vocals/Bass
Vic Nocturnitier – Guitars/Backing Vocals
T.C. Speedfire – Drums/Backing Vocals/Synths
Vengeance & Wrath features cover art by Kris Verwimp, and it suits the music extremely well. Dying Victims will release the album on CD and vinyl LP formats. Pre-orders are open now.
You should also know that two more Gallower songs from the new album are available for listening at Bandcamp: “The Dead Despise the Living” and the title song “Vengeance & Wrath“.
PRE-ORDER:
Webshop: https://tinyurl.com/yckc3t2f
Bandcamp: https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/vengeance-wrath