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GALLOWS RITES
Witchcraft And Necro Desecration EP

Helldprod / Sacrifice (2023)
Rating: 7/10

Now is the time to get savaged by some Portuguese black thrash. Gallows Rites formed three years ago in 2020 and this five-song EP is their debut offering; a nasty spiky affair blessed with speedy yet well oiled axe work and a sneering vocal attack.

The band hasn’t set out to do anything original, and why would they when their concoction is such a lethal one. Tracks like ‘Satanik Night’ and ‘Witches Curse’ all provide that old school blackened vibe where alcohol is the fuel and goat’s blood adorns the walls.

Gallows Rites take a first and second wave black metal aesthetic and have no intention of bringing such chaos up to date. It’s fleeting yet bewitching as the foursome delights in choking the audience on the foul fumes of the seething title track and the equally wicked ‘Unholy Sorcery’. Meanwhile, the closing namesake track ‘Gallows Rites’ samples 1977 horror film Alucarda before splattering the listener with more shards of despicable deviance.

The structuring here is simple but effective thorniness as your innards are scraped out and dangled from the altar in worship of Lucifer.

Neil Arnold

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