[Album Review] Facing The Gallows ‘Dead Mindset’
ARTIST: Facing The Gallows
ALBUM NAME: ‘Dead Mindset’
RELEASE DATE: February 2018
COUNTRY: South Africa
CITY: Johannesburg
GENRE: Metalcore
There has always been something appealing about the metalcore genre: it is generally associated with bands who have a lot of fire in their belly and black shoe-polish in their hair.
With that said, five-piece ‘core band Facing The Gallows comes to mind, who have just reached their 11 year anniversary – and their present to us is a whopping 12-track album titled Dead Mindset.
It is the first full-length album from the Joburg based band and was proudly made possible by the public through a Thundafund campaign that kicked off last year. You will be pleased as a peach to know that none of that crowd-funded money was wasted.
Dead Mindset opens with boisterous riffs and guitar gurgles – and yes, that ‘core growl we all love and secretly practice during bath time. That track, Pessimist, sets the tone for the album that follows, which is high energy, surreal maelstroms and quality.
We have already had the pleasure of listening to Doom II which was pre-released in anticipation of the album. That track takes us back to a time when we were carving Slayer in our pencil cases and had no worries in the world. It’s fun, it’s party and it’s why the lads went ahead and added a music video to the sound. Another song that made its way into moving pictures is Tides of Terror. The guitars and drums are so strong and focussed that words fail to describe the attention to precise timing.
Skipping ahead to the end of the album is Opportunist, which is a slightly less aggressive (almost romantic but not quite) side of Facing The Gallows. It is anything but slow, there is harmonious melody and a dazzle of pretty licks.
There are no disappointments here and the production quality is with a capital Q. There is meticulous attention to tiny details such as the way the tracks flow and the bridges in songs are liquid. Each musician goes above and beyond their threshold and delivers in every tune.
Facing The Gallows have officially arrived. And Dead Mindset is heavy, baby, but it’s a rainbow in the dark.
Release date for Dead Mindset is 20 February and you can pre-order the album on iTunes!
Reviewed by: Lav Nandlall
Shots supplied by: Facing The Gallows
Date: February 2018
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