Kev Rowland It’s my own fault. When I was offered this album I remembered the name and checked my records, and yes I had reviewed the band some years previously so grabbed it. What I didn’t check was what I had said about their 2013 release ‘And Time Stood Still’, which is a shame as I finished the review with “The best part of this album is the artwork – don’t play it, just look at it”. Now, it must be said that this album is way better than that, without ever getting into the realms of being indispensable. This is melodic hard rock, often with both male and female vocals, which at times is hook-laden and makes me smile. The one major issue is that it is just so pedestrian, and often very one-sided in its approach. There is little in the way of energy, and songs often seem to run out of ideas as opposed to finishing with a bang.

It is hard to recommend this, but it is a very good example of this style of music, and if this is your thing then you will probably get a lot out of it, but I would personally listen to something which has passion, power and variety.

Kev Rowland Apparently these guys were formed as long ago as 1977, and when they were called Angelina they had a number one hit single in 1980 in their home country of Austria at which point they changed their name to Gallow’s Pole. Since then there have been the normal line-up changes, but band leader Alois Martin Binder has been there since the very beginning. This is their seventh album, so one would expect them to really know what they are doing by now, and there is no doubt that they can play and that the production is very good indeed, it’s just a shame that the songs just don’t work at all. What we have is a band that wants to be really heavy, but also wants to very melodic, with a singer whose voice is probably best described as ‘different’. The result is something that is actually the worse of all worlds, as they are too heavy for the style of music they are trying to develop, and too slow to be a traditional metal outfit while too melodic to be anything but soft rock.

The first time I played this I kept waiting for something to change, as there is no way that a band that has been working for well over thirty years should produce something as bad as this. The second time I played it I kept berating myself for forcing myself to play something that wasn’t very good at all. I would be lying if I said that I made it all the way through a third. The best part of this album is the artwork – don’t play it, just look at it.

Time Signature You're in my way...

Genre: traditional heavy metal / hard rock

I can't help but feeling a bit disappointed when I listen to "Revolution" by Austrian metal veterans Gallows Pole. Their style is old-fashioned hardrock-infused heavy metal, and that in itself is not really a problem to me, given that I have always had a soft spot in my heart for traditional metal.

To be honest, I simply think that a lot of the tracks on this album are too slow and limping, and while some songs certainly have some redeeming elements, a good handful of them are simply below what's acceptable for a band who has been around since the 1970s. "Dirty Love", for instance, sounds like what I can imagine AC/DC would sound like if they were a sucky band (and lyrics like "I wanna fuck you in the street" do not exactly help). Similarly, a track like "Falling Rain" does not have much to offer apart from a sort of thrashy introduction riff, and "Always" promises to be a melancholic power ballad from the intro, but turns out to be just another boring dinosaur rock song.

Unfortunately, most of the songs on this album strike me as being uninspired, unoriginal and way below average, and that is probably why "Revolution" has received some scathing reviews on sites like Metal Express Radio, Hard Rock Hideout, Disagreement and Metal-Temple - reviews I tend to agree with.

It it's not all complete misery. There are a couple of positive things to say, and the album does contain a few catchy tues like the opening track "You're In My Way" whose chorus melody reminds me of an Offspring hit song from the 90s and the ballady "Early Days" does not fail as miserably as "Always", and it even contains a couple of cool guitar riffs. "Hell Again", like "Dirty Love", is a more AC/DC-inspired track, but, fortunately, it works much better than "Dirty Love".

So, there are some redeeming features, as mentioned, but one cannot help wondering how such an experienced hard rock band can make an album that sounds so amateurish, and, despite the redeeming features, this is certainly a disappointment-generating factor.

I think that maybe, hardcore hardrock enthusiasts might enjoy this album, but I am afraid that most metal and rock fans in general will be disappointed with "Revolutions".