Year: 2020
Total Time: 53:00
Label: Nuclear Blast
One of the most promising bands in the so called atmospheric rock/doom metal area are definitely PALLBEARER from Arkansas, USA and are now returning in the fields with their new 4th album. After being active for 10 years since they were born in 2008 but released their first demo CD in 2010, they already have achieved quite a few things, such as being included in the Top 100 lists of Billboard, presentations and rewards from top notch magazines like Pitchfork mag, Decibel and even the NY Times, it was just unavoidable that a big record label would grab them and take them in.
The album “Forgotten Days” started to take shape in 2019, when life was still kind of normal, but was completed and got released just recently. For one more time the band is following the paths opened by their previous records. From the very first seconds when the self-titled track emerges, we get one of the best, heaviest riffs and tracks that were released in the recent times, a classic doom metal anthem that overflows with BLACK SABBATH and even CANDLEMASS or PENTAGRAM influences all over the place. It already is one of my favorite tracks since playback No1 ! Next we get “Riverbed” and in its 6 and a half minutes time, all those psychedelic rock elements they use are rising up, just before “Stasis” takes place, which in my opinion sounds really weak compared with the bands profile and it really isn’t saying much to me. Fortunately, things are moving forward again with the 12 minute long epic “Silver Wings” that is coming next and is exactly what we needed. Heavy, mourning, with some melodic cuts here and there and with a “dreaming” finale makes a quite impressive to say the least composition that someone really need to pay attention to in order to fulfill its existence at its best. On “The Quicksand of Existing” we get some extra “heaviness” on as it is a “catchy” tune, a “hit” track we may say since it is one of the shortest numbers, only 4 minute long! Next is the slow and quite heavy “Vengeance & Ruination” which will definitely be worshipped by the loyal traditional SABBATH fans while “Rite of Passage” just before the end is another mediocre number in my opinion that isn’t offering anything particular to the release. The grand finale however is more than impressive and is called “Caledonia”, which in its 8 minute of running time combines all those elements that this band is well known for. Very heavy and melodic, with great keyboards where needed, vocals and choruses from “another planet” and a medley like finish that wipes out everything while the band is leaving the stage with pride, just like they entered.
The area of the so called Doom Metal is a peculiar one. Maybe as an “idiom” it was born around half a century ago with “Paranoid”, before even the classic heavy metal, but it always had a special audience that it was addressed to. PALLBEARER with their new, 4th album, aspire to extend this audience, or at least make most of them be interested in checking them out. I think it won’t be very difficult to achieve that since the high quality releases of their kid are very few and “Forgotten Days” is definitely one of them. It will take quite a few playbacks for the listener in order to fully understand their concept, its complexity and its musical diversity but rest assured that the time you will devote to them will not be wasted.
We are also looking forward to seeing them on stage to and enjoy this material live like we did in the past with their previous albums.
Rating:7/10
Editor: Antonis Livanios
Related Link: PALLBEARER – Official Page
