In building their late Middle Ages-set lore of magick-fueled wars and sinister witchery Tychy, Poland-based thrash metal trio GALLOWER once again reprise the ancient spiritus of unholy “witching” metal for their sophomore full-length album. Though ‘Vengeance & Wrath‘ doesn’t intend to flatly replicate the sound of the mid-to-late 80’s their riff-centric songcraft is unmistakably an old soul, one that grasps for finer details with each iteration of their obsession. Fans of eastern European thrash metal and ‘evil’ speed metal should come running to check out these folks’ digs, not only for the sake of the authenticity conveyed but their own rhythmic tics as they continue to develop under ye olde framework.

Gallower formed as a trio circa 2015 featuring folks who’d been previously active in thrash metal throwback Snake’s Head alongside a guitarist from Pandemic. Their goal for this band was something like high fantasy witching metal, the early Venom inspired evil speed metal from Teutonic legends Destruction and Sodom and the similar alignment offered by Bathory and Sabbat (Japan) afar. If you are a die-hard fan of sinister themed thrash and speed metal you’ll appreciate references like (earlier) Living Death and Carrion (Switzerland) as these folks’ efforts stretch fully into classic speed and even black-thrash metal realms depending on the release. The early demo tapes (‘Witch Hunt is On‘, 2015) and (‘Through the Gallows‘, 2016) are perfectly primitive and ugly stuff in the most raw spirit but for their debut LP (‘Behold the Realm of Darkness‘, 2020) their production values were attuned for a mid-80’s sound, clearly centered around the impact of their riffing and fast breaking action. The songwriting was a mixed bag but one that’d been delivered with a lot of love for the crazed personality of underground thrash metal of a certain era, stuff that never left the lessons of ‘Infernal Overkill‘ and ‘Show No Mercy‘ behind.

While I’d appreciated Gallower‘s discography in hindsight their first impression made on me came by way of their most recent EP (‘Eastern Witchcraft‘, 2022) and it was a positive one, as I’d commented: “[…] looking forward to their next full-length if they keep this sound up, and keep writing songs like “Susanoo’s Deceit”.” having enjoyed their work as a longtime fan of NWOBHM/Venom inspired mid-80’s stuff out of Poland and the German periphery in general. In the meantime they’ve added more chains to their logo, scored a brilliant Kris Verwimp cover artwork and written a sophomore full-length album which has been crafted with far greater consistency than their prior releases. As their lore intensifies and skill in crafting legit ‘old school’ thrash metal songs follows these folks begin to prove they’re not just another black-thrash metal gig but an exaggerative blazon for the still-buried underground side of eastern European black, speed and thrash metal estrangement.

Setting the tone of the album via an organ hit, the crash of a storm and the poisoned proclamation of the host opener “Aftermath Protector’s Militia” scales the castle walls with slow chopped riff progressions, tipped with trills and a strong bass guitar tone ’til the punkish speed metal change-up pulls us into familiar territory. Of course they could’ve skipped the whole intro and twanged away at the main verse riff from the start but Gallower appear more and more interested in telling a story, exploring their theme with each release. Shouting, shrieking, and even grunting a bit along these lines takes some basal level of gusto to pull off in an entertaining way and der vocalist/bassist Mighty Tzar assumes his command post with even more presence than before. The echo applied to the vocals aren’t necessary but they do immediately signal that we’re in witching metal territory.

The opening riff from “Relentless Retaliation” reminds me of No Return’s “Nightly Aggression”, more of a death-thrashing crowd burner to start but a classic example of thrash metal momentum hitting riff-after-riff and narrating mayhem in the process. The “breakdown” at the end of the song is the kicker here simple as it is. I dunno if I’d consider Gallower on the catchy side of thrash metal at all but when they hit that type of groove, which we find a more elaborate take upon the revelation of “Bubonic Breath” right after, there is some good reason to return to the full listen given on Side A outright, not only “hooks” but smaller details that speak to the level of craft you’d find in the classics that’d inspired these folks.

While I’d generally say ‘Vengeance & Wrath‘ excels in developing its rhythmic knack it is the drum performances and increased use of fills here and there that’d felt most improved beyond the band’s debut. Riffcraft directs the show as we hit songs like “March of the Carmine Cloaks” with its blustering intro even hitting the keys and fanfare upon its stomping arrival but (again) the drums are where their foundations begin to expand into more complex and performative songs. The general feeling here is that they’ve leaned more into the anthemic, stamping side of things and even some melodic movement as an extension of some of the ideas found on ‘Eastern Witchcraft‘. This means less focus on breaks of speed and more on mid-paced riffs on our walk down into Side B.

The early Destruction worthy gallop and slash that opens “Prophecy of the Seven” might be my favorite moment on the album (see also: opening riff to “Demonic Ascent”) in terms of its immediate effect and the grooves they pull from the trot in and this does a fine job of setting the tone of the second half. Rather than reaching into their grab-bag for various parts of their ouevre Gallower approach ‘Vengeance & Wrath‘ with greater focus and this is where their own personality shows a bit more via rhythmically detailed pieces such as the title track (“Vengeance & Wrath“); Nothing Gallower‘ve done on this album outshines the charm of the old stuff from the age of uncertainty but it does provide a similarly inspired feeling and at the very least these folks aren’t just putting out dry, low-effort cloneage. In this sense the full listen will still feel erratic as ‘Behold the Realm of Darkness‘ at times but it is clear that the trio’s work is only improving in terms of composition and general authenticity with each pass. A moderately high recommendation.

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