PUNK rockers Gallows reckon they've been able to move forward as a band - by only making music to please themselves.

The group recently released its fourth album, Desolation Sounds, and play the Cathouse tomorrow.

Even though half the band currently live in North America, guitarist Laurent 'Lags' Barnard feels the foursome were able to make the record they wanted to make.

"It's really hard for everyone to get together with our lives so far apart," he says.

"Gallows is no longer our main focus which has both negative and positive effects.

"Unfortunately we're dedicating less and less time to the project but it's allowed us to work on it from a more creative standpoint as opposed to treating our art like a business.

"I think the business side of things can really impact a band's confidence to write music that they truly believe in.

"With all businesses you work to keep your customers happy which means you will do things a certain way to please others.

"The only people we aimed to please this time were ourselves and we achieved just that."

That means that Desolation Sounds has some changes to the quartet's typically explosive sound.

If the group's past three records were fast and furious from the start, this time around there's slower, heavier material that takes more time to detonate.

However, the sense of menace that's always present in the rockers music is still present.

"I do feel overall the band was starting to get pigeonholed as being too driven by anger," says Lags.

"With Desolation Sounds we were able to channel that inner-darkness in new ways...

"Even when we're not grabbing the listener by the throat, which is what we used to do a lot on other recordings, there's still that sense of danger and uneasiness.

"It's like we're always ready to pounce and sometimes we do but sometimes we don't.

"There's nothing happy about this record and it should be that way, this is Gallows not One Direction."

The band have been through some highs and lows since first forming a decade ago.

Singer Frank Carter departed back in 2011 (replaced by Alexisonfire frontman Wade McNeil) and a surprise deal with major label Warner Brothers only lasted one album.

Yet Lags wouldn't automatically advise young bands against signing with a big label, even though it didn't work out for Gallows.

"As long as you know what you're letting yourself in for, then do it," he says.

"There are undeniably many advantages of being on a major.

"Their influence on the music industry is huge but with this digital age you can definitely see a real shift, too.

"If you have a good strategy for your band you can bypass the conglomerates altogether, it depends on how much passion and hard work you're willing to invest."

Speaking of passion, the guitarist is looking forward to their Cathouse visit tomorrow night.

"I remember getting given Scotch after a sold-out show at King Tuts and then dropping it a few days later after our London gig," he recalls.

"That really upset out bass player Stu who's a keen Scotch drinker.

"The crowd in Scotland is probably the wildest in the UK, but something else I realise is that even though the crowd are wild in Scotland they are also the friendliest."

Lags earlier mentioned that all of the group have less time to spend on the band now, and that means their future will be up in the air. However, that's a state the guitarist is satisfied with.

"I think we've always taken things as they come, it sounds so stupid to say this but every record we've released could just as easily never have happened," he says.

"Gallows will always exist in the now, on the verge of self-combusting.

"I think that's what makes being in this band so exciting, you never know what's going to happen next."

Gallows, Cathouse, tomorrow £14, 7pm