Singled Out: One In The Chamber's To The Gallows

Keavin Wiggins | 12-18-2020

One In The Chamber recently released their new single "To The Gallows" and to celebrate we have asked Gerrod Harris to tell us the story behind the track. Here is the story:

"To The Gallows" was a song we wrote in the summer of 2019 and was the last song we wrote before entering the studio in January 2020. It all started when Cecil Eugene played then opening chords through his new delay pedal and jumped into what would become the explosive chorus. The shift in dynamics blew us away and we immediately began jamming on this as Mike Biase began writing out some words. Like most of our favourite songs we've written, it was spontaneous and immediately took precedent to flesh out during practice.

Mike describes the song as the lyrical prequel to "Something To Say" of our 2018 EP, I've Got Something To Say... and is from the perspective of a fallen angel that has escaped from hell and is on earth. Lines like "I'm amazed at the way the souls up here play" is him looking around and being pleased by how sh*tty people can be and how, therefore, he will one day get their souls. This is further emphasized in the chorus - "but please, no, god, please" - which plays as a back and forth between the demon and a soul that has been sent to hell. Tired of their pleading and complaining, the demon "rips out their tongue", as best roared by Mike. In essence, the song is called "To The Gallows" because it is a twisted love song to the gallows because they are responsible for so many souls that have been sent to the demon.

Musically, "To The Gallows" is a significant shift in tone, performance, and songwriting. There really is no signature riff and there is a stronger connection to our alternative rock influences rather than the classic rock tone of our previous releases. Instrumentally, it is very much in style with the haunting melodies of Alice In Chains or Deftones, however, Mike's vocals bring a dark blues sensibility reminiscent of Robert Plant. Furthermore, we were inspired by Alice In Chains' "Rooster" - a song we had covered acoustically that summer - to experiment structurally. It seemed that the more we added to the song, the more we wanted to pull things back and make it simpler. In the end, we went with what had mostly been written in that initial jam, keeping the song gritty and raw. As a result, "To The Gallows" is among one of our music unique tracks to date when compared to our previous singles!

With such a moody, dark, and brooding tone, we never imagined "To The Gallows" would be our next single and yet we are incredibly proud of what the song has become since recording it earlier this year. What better way to cap off 2020 than with a single that was never intended to be.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the band here