Deuteronomy is Wakefield band The Gallery’s recent single, released on Animal Farm records, and has already been featured in playlists by the likes of This Feeling.
The song begins with a clean riff stylistically similar to The Cult, coupled with a laid-back groove. Both elements are drenched in reverb, and provide a moodier aesthetic.
The pre-chorus provides a sudden change of atmosphere and texture, with the inclusion of drier, palm-muted guitars. As the band builds in intensity, expectations are subverted through holding the palm-mutes longer than expected, creating a higher tipping point of the song and allowing for a bigger payoff when the chorus does finally enter with its monstrous octave-based call-and-response style riff.
An off-beat hi-hat provides the song with enough development and energy to keep the song interesting and create that little extra bit of tension before the second chorus. A quieter bridge follows, again allowing for a seemingly larger breakdown, which features a double time drum pattern, and a minor pentatonic riff based on E, the lowest note of the guitar if in standard tuning, as the pedal note. This is a commonly heard trope of rock music, but only because it works – as is shown here.
The song’s moodiness is heightened by the choice of having a quieter, more distorted vocal that doesn’t sit on top of the mix, as would be expected in other forms of rock music. Such choices force the listener to envelop themselves in the song more, and potentially connect with the angst present in the music.
The sheer size of this track is certainly as the name would suggest – biblical.
Follow The Gallery here: Twitter | Instagram. Buy tickets for their show in Oporto, Leeds here.
https://soundcloud.com/the_animal_farm/the-gallery_deuteronomy
