• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Gallower is a Polish band that formed in 2015 with a burning desire to honor the early days of Thash and Black Metal on their demo The Witch Hunt is On (originally self-released, it is now getting the cassette treatment from Shadow Kingdom Records). Classic Venom and Bathory are the obvious reference points when listening to Gallower plow through tracks like "King of the Ashes" and "Necromancer" at 100 mph. The vocals are of the early extreme style pioneered by Cronos and Quorthon and aren't really Black or Death, just pure evil. While I found most of The Witch Hunt is On a bit of a monotonous blur, Gallower shows some flashes of better things to come with "Incinerated Spectrum." This song features a slower pace, a clearly defined riff and some vocal lines with real hooks. So many Black/Thrash bands today forget that songs like "Black Metal" and "Into the Crypts of Rays" weren't just different and extreme, they were actual songs and not just playing fast for the sake of it. If Gallower can capture a little more of that on their next release, they will really be on to something.