Album Review: Heartless by Pallbearer

Pallbearer release their third album Heartless on 24^th March via Profound Lore and Nuclear Blast (EU). This is the first essential heavy rock album of the year, devastating heavily, dark and doom laden when it needs to be – Heartless is more than just heavy riffs though. You’ll find complex sonic architecture that weaves together the spacious exploratory elements of classic prog, the raw anthemics of 90’s alt-rock, and stretches of black-lit proto-metal. Lyrics about mortality, life, and love are set to sharp melodies and pristine three-part harmonies. Vocalist and guitarist Brett Campbell has always been a strong, assured singer, and on Heartless, his work’s especially stunning.

From vintage doom in their 2012 debut Sorrow and Extinction through to the adventurous Foundations of Burden (2014), Pallbearer continue their growth with increased intricacies, ambitious structures and immediate hooks. This album will surely set them out as the current leaders of heavy rock. It’s the kind of progressive heavy metal that serves Baroness, Torche Et al so well, Pallbearer ramp it up a notch with dynamics that weave from progressive metal to sludge to doom to post metal via alt rock and a smattering of 80s metal.

Coming in at just over an hour, you’ve got seven truly epic tracks. From the gloriously complex, sky-lit opener ‘I Saw the End’ to the earth-shaking (and heartbreaking) 13-minute closer ‘A Plea for Understanding’ it’s an album that pushes the bands boundaries at every opportunity. ‘Thorns’ contains some absolutely wonderful guitar work, at various points it almost sounds akin to And Justice For All-era Metallica before journeying through some delectable hooks.

‘Life of Survival’ is brutally heavy, the riffs rain down in doom soaked brutality creating a dark and sinister atmosphere, add in Brett Campbell accessible and powerful vocal and you end up with a track that becomes strangely moving despite its heaviness. For all its sprawling ambition, it finds itself trumped by the jaw dropping 12-minute opus of ‘Dancing in the Madness’. Starting off with ambient post-rock/metal atmospherics it casts an emotional shadow before a torrent of guitar drive the track towards progressive metal territory. If that wasn’t enough the bounces from all-out doom at the six-minute mark to gently strummed acoustic guitar a couple of minutes later and back to progressive sludge metal. Throw in some guitar solos and you’ve got one of 2017s finest tracks.

‘Cruel Road’ is the guitar lovers track, sit back and let the abundance of riffs and solos wash over you before title track ‘Heartless’ takes you on another epic journey through post-metal, doom and instantaneous alt rock. At times, it feels like you’re coming up against a barrage of constantly evolving riffs, but it’s a challenge you’ll end up relishing. As mentioned, closer ‘A Plea for Understanding’ adds a level of heartbreaking emotion. The level of emotion was hinted at in previous tracks but here it’s enhanced through layered post-metal dynamics and churning brutal riffs. It’ll grab you by the heartstrings and tug with all its might. Just wait until it hits the five-minute mark and a whole new wave emotion hits. Chillingly affecting stuff.

With Heartless, Pallbearer have outdone themselves. This isn’t just essential for lovers of heavy music, this is essential for everyone.

AD Rating 9.75/10