Review: Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden

Little Rock, Arkansas, doom band Pallbearer came out of nowhere with 2012's critically acclaimed Sorrow and Extinction. While it was a very good debut album, I had a pretty strong feeling that their second effort would be even better.

On Foundations of Burden, five of the six tracks hover around the ten-minute mark. These songs crush and crawl ever so slowly but never feel overly long or repetitive.

Rather quickly into "Worlds Apart", it's striking how improved the vocals sound. They're much stronger and more confident than on the debut, and the harmonies add an increased layer of depth throughout the record. Speaking of depth, is it just me or do you hear some Disintegration-era The Cure on "Foundations," particularly between the seventh and eighth minute?

"Watcher In The Dark" demolishes with its heaviness but retains its sense of melody, especially with the subtle piano notes sprinkled in. Upon first hearing "The Ghost I Used To Be," it felt instantly familiar and catchy in its own right, making me wonder if this song could serve as Pallbearer's introduction to a more mainstream audience.

The lighter-than-air "Ashes," by far the shortest song here, floats through the clouds without much need for riffs or heaviness. Such weightlessness is fleeting, however, and Pallbearer end things just as expected with album closer "Vanished," nearly going off the rails just past the eight-minute mark until slowing the pace back down.

It turns out that my feeling about a second album was right, and now the sky's the limit for what's to come next.

Metallurgical Rating:  4.0 / 5/0