PALLBEARER

The band is PALLBEARER and the album title is "Sorrow and Extinction". If that doesn't tell you that this is a long player that smothers the listener (in melancholic doom metal, then you probably never cared to begin with. "Sorrow and Extinction" is five long (eight to twelve minutes) tracks of weighty riffs and misery rhythm-flows permeated with a melodic sadness sent soaring by a singer in Brett Campbell whose voice shines like a diamond.

"Surely PALLBEARER hail from a town in England with skies that never allow a ray of light to break through clouds that produce an omnipresent drizzle, a place in which the days are described as a lighter shade of night", you might surmise. But you would be incorrect, as PALLBEARER's city of origin is none of other than Little Rock, Arkansas. Geography is irrelevant anyway since this sort of epic doom emanates from so deep within the soul that the solar rays in even the brightest of locales could never penetrate the layers of gloom that separate the outside world from man's internal strife. Musical influence however may be a different story, as the seeds of PALLBEARER were likely planted by doom's earliest luminaries, whether ANATHEMA or CANDLEMASS. The strength of "Sorrow and Extinction" in fact comes from the riff-heavy traditionalism of acts like the aforementioned CANDLEMASS and in a broader sense BLACK SABBATH crossed with the despondence of the U.K.'s coldest and wettest, as well as the dark atmospheres produced by bands such as AHAB and DRACONIAN, into which PALLBEARER has presumably tapped. Shiny happy people these are not.

Regardless of influence, PALLBEARER draws out their bleakness for as long as it takes to set just the right tone for a song before Campbell begins his captivating soul purges. Cases in point are the two-and-a-half minutes of acoustic strumming that open "Foreigner" or the five-and-a-half minutes of slow-burn that elapses on before the bitter-sweetness of that voice is heard on "Given to the Grave". The here, especially for those that can't get to a point fast enough, is that the music of "Sorrow and Extinction" does not drag or induce sleep; it sucks in the listener with a quasi-hypnotic fluidity that is steady and determined. Also of importance to realize is that PALLBEARER is a doom metal group in a riff 'n plod sense that just happens to have a knack for squeezing out the anguished melodies one drop at a time and a singer that is in full command of his craft. As such, those with an opiate addiction and/or that are prone to random tearful breakdowns are advised to steer clear of "Sorrow and Extinction". Everyone else is cleared to enjoy this ride.