At roughly seven and a half minutes, it’s a little difficult to come away from a listen to the new GALLOWS EP ‘Death Is Birth’ EP with much but further curiosity.
Wade MacNeil arrives as new frontman proper with the release, and it’s been important for the band to get his stamp on them out to the general public as soon as possible. When a band loses a frontman like Frank Carter, they’re often treated with a “when not if” attitude towards a break up in the near future, but ‘Death Is Birth’ does carry all the hallmarks of a band that can go on and do excellent things in the future still.
Sure, MacNeil is a bit less distinctive vocally and a little disjointed from the music lyrically in places, and it is a bit odd to see a band so adept at draping British flags take on a Canadian frontman, but it’s a swift reminder that the world is now so very small.
Should this new union get settled and make a full length in the near future, there’s absolutely no reason it couldn’t be great. It’s hard to read too much into what will happen next from ‘Death Is Birth’ because it’s so short and at such an early stage of the band’s new line up. Worth checking out regardless.
TOM AYLOTT