PALLBEARER — Heartless (review)

PALLBEARER — Heartless album cover Album · 2017 · Doom Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Kev Rowland


This is the third album from the American doomsters, and they certainly have a very different approach to the genre than what I am used to hearing. Yes, the riffs are often like leaden slabs, but Brett Campbell is a singer who is extremely confident in his abilities and is both powerful and melodic. No gruff spoken or strange singing for him, just right down the middle vocals that would be suited to any good mainstream band. They aren’t afraid to bring in musical elements from other genres, yet always tie them back to doom, so the result is something that is incredibly easy to listen to while at the same time also being quite unusual. Having played the album quite a few times I’m still a little at a loss as to how to describe it, just because it is bringing together all these influences and making them work in a doom setting.

The production is superb, and it doesn’t matter of guitars are being gently picked as at the beginning of “Lie Of Survival”, or crunched as they are later in the same song, it is all mixed to perfection (step forward Joe Barresi from Tool, Queens of the Stone Age and others). Vocalist/guitarist Brett and bassist/secondary vocalist Joseph D. Rowland also provide synthesisers when the time is right, and the use of a wide musical palette also adds to the overall feel of the album. While not essential, this is well worth hearing, and it will be interesting to see what direction they move into next.
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