Gallows (band)

Gallows are an English hardcore punk band from Watford, Hertfordshire. The band was formed in 2005 after the disbandment of founding member Laurent Barnard's previous band, My Dad Joe. Gallows' debut album, Orchestra of Wolves, was distributed in the United States by Epitaph Records, and they were subsequently signed to Warner Bros. Records for a £1 million album contract with up to three options, a deal they were dropped from after one album, Grey Britain.^[1][2] The band has been particularly successful in their native country, with three songs charting on the UK Single Charts, and have been featured in magazines such as Kerrang!, Alternative Press and Rolling Stone.^[3]

History

Formation and Orchestra of Wolves (2005–08)

Gallows formed in 2005^[4] and released their debut album Orchestra of Wolves in 2006 on In at the Deep End Records. The album received acclaim and caught the attention of Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz, who released it in the US on Epitaph Records, with new tracks including a cover of Black Flag's "Nervous Breakdown". In an interview Gurewitz named Orchestra of Wolves as one of his favourite albums of 2007, praising it as being the best hardcore album since Refused's The Shape of Punk to Come.

Gallows' 2007 tour included stops at the South by Southwest showcase festival, Warped Tour 2007, Download Festival, Taste of Chaos 2007, and the Reading Festival, where lead singer Frank Carter received a tattoo onstage during the set from Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory.

The band won the 2007 Kerrang! Award for best British Newcomer.^[5]

Their song "In the Belly of a Shark" is featured in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

Gallows' third single, a cover of The Ruts' "Staring at the Rude Bois", was their first UK top 40 single, appearing at number 31 on the chart on 25 November 2007, the track features guest vocals by Lethal Bizzle. The song was featured in the 2008 Jim Carrey film Yes Man.^[6] The band in February released a single, "Just Because You Sleep Next to Me Doesn't Mean You're Safe", the video for which was filmed at Emo's in Texas.^[7]

Gallows in 2007, left to right: Gili-Ross, Barratt, Frank Carter, Steph Carter, and Barnard

In January 2008, the band's show at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California was cancelled after Disney, reportedly after listening to Orchestra of Wolves, chose to ban them from performing.^[8]

Gallows contributed a cover of "Wrathchild" to Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden.

On 18 August 2008, the song Gold Dust was made available on the band's MySpace profile. They stated that the song would not appear on the second studio album, saying it was "...just a little treat for everyone that's been asking for new Gallows songs for a while."^[9]

Grey Britain (2008–11)

On 5 December 2008, Thrash Hits revealed that the title of Gallows' second album would be Grey Britain.^[10] The album was released on 2 May 2009.

Gallows performed the entire 2009 Vans Warped Tour.^[11][12] Gallows will be supporting AFI on an American tour.^[13] In order to tour with AFI, Gallows postponed shows in Australia and New Zealand.^[14][15]

In December 2009, Gallows mutually parted ways with Warner Brothers.^[16]

On 6 June 2010, Gallows played at Rage Against the Machine's victory parade at Finsbury Park in London, UK. They supported Rage Against the Machine and Gogol Bordello at the O2 in Dublin on 7 June 2010.

Gallows played at the Soundwave Festival during late February and early March 2010. They performed on the second stage at the Warrior's Dance Festival at the National Bowl on 24 July 2010,^[17] played at the 2010 UK Sonisphere Festival,^[18] as well as co-headlining Kent's Hevy Festival on 7 August 2010.^[19] They also played Reading and Leeds Festivals 2010 on the Lock Up stage under the pseudonym of The Rats.^[20]

On 17 December 2010, the band played at Dingwalls, in Camden, London, during the afternoon, and performed the entire Orchestra Of Wolves album. In the evening, they then went onto Camden's Electric Ballroom venue, and played Grey Britain in its entirety, with four members of The Heritage Orchestra. Both shows were recorded for a live DVD.

Lineup change, Death Is Birth and self-titled third album (2011–14)

Wade MacNeil, formerly of Alexisonfire, replaced Frank Carter as Gallows' lead singer in 2011.

Frank Carter left Gallows in July 2011, issuing a statement that the band "have hit a crossroads in our writing process and unfortunately myself and the rest of the boys have different ideas regarding the sound of Gallows going forward. Gallows have decided they are going to continue on without me and I wish the boys the best of luck for the future."^[21]

Frank's brother and bandmate Steph remarked: "As you all know, we've been in the studio for the past few months working on a follow up to Grey Britain. It pains me to say that as of 1 August Frank will no longer be a member of Gallows. Creatively, we could not agree on a direction for the new record and came to the conclusion that parting ways was for the best. Frank will be releasing music with his new project Pure Love later this year and we all wish him best. He is and will always be our brother, as well as an integral part of the start of our career."^[21] The band made their last festival appearance with Frank at the Sonisphere festival and he played his final show with Gallows at London ULU on 23 July 2011.^[22]

Frank Carter eventually formed a solo project under the name Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes.

Former Alexisonfire guitarist/vocalist Wade MacNeil replaced Carter as Gallows' singer in August 2011, shortly after Alexisonfire announced their disbandment.^[23] The band's first recording with MacNeil, the 40-second "True Colours", was released as a free digital download.^[24] The 4-song Death Is Birth EP, recorded in Los Angeles with The Bronx guitarist Joby Ford as producer, was released that December through Thirty Days of Night Records.

Gallows began recording their third album, and first with MacNeil, in April 2012.^[25] They launched their own record label, Venn Records, through which to release it.^[26] The eponymously titled Gallows was released 10 September 2012, and was distributed by Bridge Nine Records in North America.^[27][28] In February 2013 the band announced that they would be continuing as a four-piece, with Steph Carter leaving to focus on his other band, Ghost Riders in the Sky.^[29] In July 2014 Gallows played a string of festival shows throughout Europe including Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth, and once again retreated to the studio in Watford to write and record their fourth album.

Desolation Sounds (2014–present)

In the summer of 2014 the band completed their fourth album, titled Desolation Sounds, with the release originally planned for November.^[30][31] However, the release date has now been pushed back, with the album instead being released on 13 April 2015. The album's first single 'Bonfire Season' was debuted on the Radio 1 Rock Show with Daniel P Carter on 11 January, with a release date of 9 February being given for the EP, which will also feature a remix and two bonus cover tracks.

Members

Current Laurent "Lags" Barnard – guitar, vocals (2005–present) Stuart Gili-Ross – bass guitar, vocals (2005–present) Lee Barratt – drums, percussion (2005–present) Wade MacNeil – lead vocals (2011–present)

Former Paul Laventure – guitar, vocals (2005) Frank Carter – lead vocals (2005–2011) Steph Carter – guitar, vocals (2006–2013)

Singer Frank Carter (left) and bassist Stuart Gili-Ross (right) in 2007

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Other appearances

The following Gallows songs were released on compilation albums. This is not an exhaustive list; songs that were first released on the band's albums, EPs, or singles are not included.

Music videos

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gallows (band).

• Official website