Artist: Pallbearer
Title: Forgotten Days
Genre: Doom Metal
Release Date: 23rd October 2020
Label: Nuclear Blast
Album Review
After being late for a review of PALLBEARER’s last output ‘Heartless’, this time around my timing is on point. I have literally been sitting on this for around six weeks because of Corona the releases come raining in like crazy, some to review shortly and some to review in 1, 3 or even 5 months in the future. But hey I am not complaining, I am busy with lots of rad music of equally rad people. The last record of PALLBEARER was released in 2017 and I deemed it worthy a 8 out of 10 possible points, let’s see what this baby here can do. Once again Campbell and Holt fuse pure doom riffs with melodies that breathe equally the psychedelia of the 70s and the NWOBHM’s gloriously overacting melodies. Songs like ‘Caledonia’ are both very heavy and powerful while managing to balance the scales with Campbell’s clean and sometimes fragile vocals.
The title song ‘Forgotten days’ is a bit of Sabbath-worship but we speak of PALLBEARER so a simple worshipping will not do, there is also a bit of 90s alternative felt here (maybe there are progressive moments to be explored), this piece ends on a pretty chaotic note I would rather expect on a sludge record (without the abominable screaming of course). I really dig ‘Riverbed’ - for me this stands a bit out after the unexpected twisted and turns of ‘Forgotten Days’ because it is pretty straight forward, melodic and even catchy. The work that is done here by Rowland on bass and Lierly on drums is not to underestimate, the rhythm work is the pacer, the spine of this doom narrative. Holt and Campbell on guitars provide the lifeblood to the compositions and Campbell on vocals is, at least for me, the figurehead of PALLBEARER. If you rock out, chill, life and die to the soothing melodies of Doom you need to infuse yourself with PALLBEARER’s ‘Forgotten Days’!
Tracklist
01. Forgotten Days
02. Riverbed
03. Stasis
04. Silver Wings
05. The Quicksand of Existing
06. Vengeance & Ruination
08. Rite of Passage
09. Caledonia
Line-up
Brett Campbell - Vocals + Guitar
Devin Holt - Guitar
Joseph D. Rowland - Bass + vocals
Mark Lierly - Drums
Website
www.pallbearerdoom.com / www.facebook.com/pallbearerdoom
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 9
Total: 9 / 10
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