Pallbearer - Heartless

Little Rock doom outfit Pallbearer returns with more bite and an even greater prog influence on their third album Heartless, their most varied and epic effort yet.

Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden

Pallbearer's latest full-length draw out a lot of the same sounds and themes that played through the band's debut album.

Pallbearer- Sorrow and Extinction

Though it runs out of ideas a little too fast, Pallbearer's debut album turns out to be a solid contribution to the world of traditional doom metal.

WATCH THE REVIEW

Pallbearer- "An Offering of Grief"

MP3

Pallbearer is one of doom metal's newest faces, and was recently turned onto them by NPR Music. You can actually stream the band's debut studio album, Sorrow and Extinction, right here.

Though I continually catch flak for enjoying metal--from both fans and haters of the genre--it's a drug I just can't quit. Sorry, y'all. I'm passionate about the stuff, so you can imagine how distraught I was to find that my favorite albums of 2011 list was almost devoid of anything from the world of doom metal. After a short falling out with metal, artists like Earth and Electric Wizard rekindled my love for heavy riffs and uncompromising volumes. Maybe testosterone played a factor as well.

The music of Pallbearer appeals to way more than a primal, male rage, though. Pallbearer's music has enough saturated low-end frequencies to shake the Earth's core, and the drumming emphasizes the heavy grooves these songs offer. However, I'm sure the track streaming above, "An Offering of Grief," has characteristics that would appeal to most music fans.

Pallbearer's guitars lay copious amounts of melody and harmony against their sludgy, monstrous riffs. The vocals are sung in a clean and dramatic style that actually reminds me of Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson. The chord progression makes the song feel pretty triumphant as well.

You can find Pallbearer's debut album, Extinction and Sorrow, on Profound Lore. It's out today. Check the cover art below: