Landmine Marathon - Gallows

Landmine Marathon.  On the surface, that doesn’t sound like much fun.  26.2 miles of running through landmines?  No, thank you.  Fortunately, the band is a lot more enjoyable than that.

I have heard a lot of good things about this band over the last few years, but somehow, despite the numerous metal shows I have attended in that time period, I’ve never seen them live and I’ve never picked up one of their previous releases.  So this won’t be one of those reviews that compare this to earlier releases or talks about their progression, or anything like that.  I’m doing this with virgin ears.

“Gallows” is the 4th album from Landmine Marathon, and it’s a good one.  The first track, “Three Snake Leaves”, reminds me somewhat of fellow Arizonans Job For A Cowboy, and my first thought was that this could just be some trendy Arizona deathcore thing.  But fear not, there is a lot of variety here.  Well, at least as much variety as you get with death metal.

“Knife From My Sleeve” is one standout track for me.  There are some nice tempo changes in which you get pounded slowly, or absolutely pummeled at about triple the slow pace.  Good stuff indeed.  “Beaten And Left Blind” is another favorite.  It gallops right along and you feel like you’re taking body shots from Manny Pacquiao at a rate of, oh, 100 punches per second.  That is how death metal is supposed to feel, at least in my book.  It’s not called flower metal after all, if it’s got the word “death” in the description, it ought to feel like it’s ripping the life out of you.  Or maybe make you feel like you want to rip the life out of someone.  Not that we condone that.

This is a very solid album and if you are a fan of death metal you owe it to yourself to check this out.  A lot has been made of the fact that frontwoman Grace Perry has been with the band since 2006, but is it really that big of a deal if a metal band includes one or more females?  She turns in an amazing vocal performance on this release and the entire band has the sound of a band on the rise.  You can hear that they have paid their dues, put in the hard work to become a unit, and they are ready to make some moves.  I will definitely be checking out the back catalog on the strength of this album.

If you’re not a fan of death metal, “Gallows” probably won’t change your mind.  But if you dig the sound of an apocalypse set to music, if you like your tunes nice and brutal, or you want the aural equivalent of being worked over with a baseball bat, this is your shit right here.

--  ODIN

Landmine Marathon - Gallows

Oh, my children, devotees, congregation-- how I do so love the death/grind.

This most rarified of music genres, is, to me, death metal distilled to a purer and more powerful form, much the same way potatoes yield vodka and poppy seeds yield heroin.

Generally death metal is inflated and cartoonish, but you get something great if you purge it of its disingenuous parts-- eliminate most solos and breakdowns, and instead of grunting vocals cookie-monster-style to try and simulate something powerful or evil, shriek into the mike-- actually be something powerful and/or evil.

Of course, this last part is tricky, and requires the soul of a high priest, or shaman, and not that of an entertainer or performer. Fortunately the members of Landmine seem to be the former two.

Slow death metal way down-- you get haarp. Speed it way, way up, detune it even further, and you get what is popularly known as DeathGrind. A sub-type of music I genuinely enjoy.

Imagine my delight, then, at the arrival of Landmine Marathon's newest, Gallows.

This is solid, dependable, professionally-executed music.

Sounds boring, right? Like a backhanded compliment? It's not-- read on.

You'd want a John Deere if you had to plow your fields, right? Not a Maserati. The Italian sports car is glossy and slick and really fast, but any farmer will take the Deere first-- because there are things you need to do, things that have to happen in order for you to live-- and you know the tractor will do everything you ask it to.

Is it glamorous? No. But it's crucial.

Gallows will grind your face off, voice your hysterical rage and confusion and connect you to the dark like no other. When you need grind, with the possible exception of Brutal Truth, nothing will work better, will scour your soul better, than Landmine.

Gallows isn't particularly an evolution over their previous releases, but I'm nearly certain they're not going for evolution-- more refinement. Hell, Faulkner wrote the same book every time-- it just got better and realer and clearer over time.

"Three Snake Leaves," "Cutting Flesh and Bone," "Liver and Lungs" and "Beaten and Left Blind" and "Morbidity," with its Arabian-Slayer-esque riff, are my personal favs.

Get some....

--Horn