I Keep a Fresh Razor Blade in the Sole of My Shoe

I have been absent from the blogosphere for some time now, but to make up for that today I'm posting a three part blog that has been “in development” for a pretty long time (most of it was written, or at least thought of about the time of the European Parliament elections, when the MP’s expenses scandal was just coming to the surface. This blog is about what is easily my favourite album of 2009 (so far). I've listened to Gallows sophomore release Grey Britain a Helluva lot of times now and kind find few faults with it (at least subjectively - which is why I'm not doing an objective review). It takes all of the aggression and raw energy that was present on Orchestra of Wolves and organises it, giving it a focus not apparent on their debut. Some might argue that focus detracts from punk energy, but in my opinion it serves to reveal the direction and the feeling of the songs which got a bit lost in the maelstrom in Orchestra... Without wanting to rant on too much I'll just say that it is a punk concept album which works (i.e. doesn't become self-important, bloated or pretentious) it describes the landscape of our great country if it continues down the path of gang crimes, apathy and distrust that Gallows believe we are walking.


OK so part two of this is that listening to the album inspired me to right a song which is totally useless for my band (who as yet do not have a name) as it's hardcore with a metal tinge (just like Grey Britain) and we're pop-punk/grunge/rock/indie type band, so I've decided to share these lyrics with whoever wants to read them, but I'll leave it up to the reader to decide what the songs about/means, or whatever.

I lie down where you stand up
Because you stand for everything I'm not
I can't stand a singe thing you do
I let them push me around just to get back at you
Backlash in the wrong direction
MP's expenses are a racist's erection

Ideology that you don't understand
Your national pride doesn't fit this land
Marginalized and down on your luck
Use a scapegoat so you can pass the buck

Disaffected, disenfranchised, disillusioned
Disinfectant, this is franchise, love abusing this illusion


The longest part of this is my idea for a Grey Britain video game which would be really awesome (or at least seemed awesome when I first thought of it). This was inspired by the long walk back from my girlfriend’s house which gave me time to listen to Grey Britain almost in it’s entirety. So the idea:

The protagonist is a guy with long dark straggly hair, wearing a leather jacket zipped half-way on top of his bare chest; black jeans and a pair of black DM boots.
The opening seen is a bar fight, where someone pulls a knife on the protagonist, resulting in the protagonist breaking the assailants arm and head butting him simultaneously. Protagonist uses this knife to cut open his hand and drink the blood before spitting in the face of an oncoming security thug, sucker punching another and striding out of the bar. This sequence exemplifies much of the game fluidly transitioning from gameplay (fighting people in bar) to intuitive QTEs (disarming knife-guy) to cutscene à la MGS4. In terms of fluidity there would be some kind of fight mechanic, where if the player performs a relatively simple counter at the attempted stabbing then the QTE is triggered, other similar events would happen throughout the game.

I should explain that the basic premise is the United Kingdom in a state of riotous disarray as described by Gallows, the inciting incident should be something obvious creating some kind of mutated zombie freaks (or something less clichéd, but I can’t think of anything). The protagonist can choose from numerous paths, either seeking to get to truth, attempting to aid those in need and restore order, or just revel in the chaos and accelerate the country’s downfall. The character himself starts of from a pretty instable position of anger and violence and is a distrustful cynic to begin with, however his personality can be altered according to the player’s actions.

The game takes place as a journey across Britain starting in the small city of Carlisle (just cuz that’s where I live) and ultimately leading to London via other major cities such as Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham etc. Along the journey the player encounters various groups of people ranging from Raiders/Reapers intent on destruction to people just trying to survive to those trying to preserve some sense of civilisation and help those in need, the player’s actions affect how other characters respond to him i.e. raiding a hospital is going to make Raider’s more likely to trust you, but “good, honest” people will regard you with hostility, this is affected by geography and the size of your reputation - a small time thief in Carlisle may not be trusted in Carlisle, but in other parts of the country no one will know. The player could also affect people’s opinions of him through Mass Effect style dialogue which has the mood, or general gist of a response rather than the dialogue verbatim - if you’re rude or aggressive obviously people are going to like and trust you less.

Another idea I had for a gameplay mechanic is some kind of anxiety system where when the protagonist is in secluded areas, especially at night them the protagonist becomes anxious which has a negative effect on combat and on dialogue options available. The player should also be made to feel more anxious through use of sounds and visuals in a similar way to how The Path becomes much more tense the longer the player runs.

An image I had in my head for a possible ending is the protagonist with a group of thugs swarming on innocents outside of the Houses of Parliament which is on fire, with the protagonist just revelling in the chaos and the violence.