Between the Headphones:
Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction
Label: Profound Lore Records
Release Date: February 21, 2012
Here you are sitting on the pews of an airless and crowded little country Church. The rolling of thunder as a massive thunderstorm is plodding along outside. The pews around you full of people mourning the loss of a beloved family member and friend. There is a sense of anger floating amongst the congregation, as there always is when someones time comes. The preacher gathering his tattered Bible and notes steps to the pulpit and begins to preach a sermon about life and death, and the loss of this beloved individual. Suddenly the mood in the Church almost becomes one of acceptance. Still sadness, but acceptance....
That is the kind of emotions this album induces.
Now that the mood has been set for this five track, forty minute slab of cold, heavy, masterful doom metal lets talk a bit about it.
The album opens with "
Foreigner" which has a slow acoustic intro that lasts about two-minutes and thirty seconds before you're thrown into a crushingly heavy riff. The guitar continues to thunderously rumble for a good minute and ten seconds before the vocals of Brett Campbell come in. Imagine a slightly more epic-sounding young Ozzy.. And you've got an idea of what Campbell vocals sound like.
"
Devoid of Redemption" is an almost sludgy piece at points. It doesn't lose the traditional feel of the album, but its crunchy and just raw sounding. Then the solo on this track is just a face melting, too. "
The Lengend" on the other hand starts off and the opening riff sounds just like a riff off of
Sleep's Holy Mountain. The extremely fuzzy bass adds to the feeling of it being a Sleep track. Yet, Pallbearer makes it their own, and its as full of hopelessness and despair as anything on the album. "
An Offering of Grief" This song really embodies everything I look for in doom metal, slow, powerful and haunting riffs. "
Given to the Grave" This is the part where acceptance comes in.. As the song begins you hear the faint sound of angels chanting and a bass line.. As they've closed the casket and begun to lower it into the clay.. its all over. I can't think of an album that has a song that closes the album the way this one does. When the song closes you honestly feel like its the end of a life...
One thing I failed to mention at any point in my above writeup on the songs is about how well done the production is on this album. Its not overly produced, but its not produced in a way that you have to listen extra close to hear everything.
If you love "full" sounding bands, I highly suggest checking this out. If you're looking to get into some doom metal bands outside from the more obvious bands, I highly suggest this album.
My Rating: 5/5. This album made me feel things that no other doom metal piece has in a long time, and in some ways, ever. Highly highly recommended.