Thought some of you might be interested in my band Pallbearer, traditional doom from Arkansas, US. We currently have a 3 song demo, and are preparing to record our first full-length album for US based doom/heavy metal label Shadow Kingdom Records, which will be released on CD later this year.


You can check out music and further information about the band here: www.myspace.com/pallbearerdoom

Great Doom guys. If you need any promo and reviewing of your material, possible interview in Codex Doomicus, let me know. Keep it slow.

In doom.

Any of those would be welcomed, glad you are feeling the doom. If anyone wants to avoid the awful compression of the myspace player, here is the zip file of the demo release:

Click and be doomed

Well, I am listening to the demo right now, and what I can tell you is that you'll have a good review in issue 1 and an interview in issue 2 of Codex Doomicus is assured my friend. Fucking great Doom. I love discovering new bands like that.

Keep the Doom flame alive.

Expect a review from me too in the next few days, this sounds like classic doom to me. If you ever want a interview or any promotion of any kind, please message me here.

That sounds great. We would be honored to do an interview. Any promotion or other content would be much appreciated, especially once the release date for our debut LP is set in stone.

We don't have the official artwork for the demo finished, but for the time being there is this cover artwork for anyone who might need it.

Awesome, i was going to ask you about the artwork. Thanks man and i will get some interview questions together soon.

A couple of reviews that have popped up:

Doom-Metal.com Review

Pallbearer’s 2010 demo begins with a plodding line from a distorted bass and it only gets bigger from there. Equally fuzzed-out guitars match the riff, harmonies are added, and the drummer punches in to commence a pretty grim take on traditional doom metal.

The sound is big. Epic. The vocals sail. The singer’s voice hovers in ghostly reverb above the trudging guitars, and provides some truly haunting melodies. It’s reminiscent of a low-pitched Halford and really adds a dimension of importance and mysteriousness to the band. At times I feel he should avoid straying too far from his natural range, but it’s a matter of opinion and not performance. Nothing’s bad here. Everything sounds good. Really good. I would buy this. In fact, I can’t wait to hear more from Pallbearer and that’s what really matters.

Pallbearer will attract people with this one. The first track, 'The Legend', clocks in at eight minutes and thirty seven seconds and is fucking awesome. The musicianship of the band is really on display on this one. From the layered guitars and atmospheric guitar solos, the bass lines that are heavy on the fuzz, and the drums that pound the shoit out of the skins, Pallbearer really hooked me within the first thirty seconds with this huge sound.

'Devoid of Redemption', the second song on the demo, is faster and, in my opinion, the weakest song of the three. It’s not a bad song, it’s actually quite good, however on a three-song demo, this one stands out a little bit. The despondent texture of 'The Legend' is sacrificed for a faster and crunchier tone. The vocalist, which really takes Pallbearer to the next level, doesn’t shine here. The reverb that gives the singer’s voice an ambient vibe throughout the demo seems overbearing here. Also, the distortion on the vocals doesn’t come off too well, and at times it’s a bit pitchy. I could see people liking this song (myself included) on a full-length because it will blend in better, but on a three-song demo, it simply doesn’t mesh.

By the time you get to the third song on Pallbearer’s demo, you’ve already had seventeen minutes of solid doom, and when 'Gloomy Sunday' begins, you get Pallbearer back in the pocket. It’s slower and heavier. Back to the gloom. The beginning reminds me a little bit of “Death in the Family” by Type-O Negative. The drums slam, and the guitar and bass hit power chords thicker than the oil spilling into the Gulf. The singer wails out the lyrics with immense power and clarity.

These songs are BIG—and with big songs, Pallbearer deserves a big audience.



Borninblood.co.uk Review

Just three tracks, The Legend and Devoid of Redemption are both about 9 minutes long, and the infamous Gloomy Sunday (Billie Holiday version) is about 5 minutes, it's a respectable 24 minute EP and there's enough here to leave a lasting impression. Slow and very heavy both in terms of tone and emotion. It's like the weight of your frown on your forehead.

On their their myspace they call themselves "True Doom", but the sound is not straight-jacketed into scene preconceptions, in fact it's refreshingly original. You can tell these guys have listened to Saint Vitus and Black Sabbath and most of the others of that generation, but this is anew generation of sound.

It very much reminds me of Warning, particularly the vocals and the phrasing of the lyrics. They also have that melancholy deathdoom influence that Warning have. The production is excellent for a demo, the playing is perfectly loosely-tight if you know what I mean. Loose enough to relate to it on a human as opposed machine level, loose enough between rhythm section and lead guitar and vocals, but tight enough in the rhythm section to deliver tremendous presence and power. It also reminds me a little of Sleep with a smoky psychedelic atmosphere, especially on Devoid of Redemption.

I've got to mention Gloomy Sunday. Covering such a classic song on a 3 track demo is a brave thing to do. They invite comparisons between legends (living and otherwise) like Diamanda Galas and Billie Holiday, and in comparison I'm afraid there is none. Ending on this has the effect of putting an dampener on the whole thing for me, which is a shame. I found it too slow, too plodding, too dragging and possessing about a tenth of the emotion of either of those two classic renditions. You then start thinking the two tracks you had heard earlier were maybe not as good as you first thought. But when you go back to them you realise they were. Pallbearer's Gloomy Sunday is good, but don't go up against Billie Holiday on a demo. Then again, I'm sure someone without my hang-ups on this would have no problems with it.

A difficult one to mark, only 3 tracks and a demo. The Legend gets a 9/10, Devoid of Redemption gets an 9/10, and Gloomy Sunday gets an 7.5/10.

8/10

Great reviews, expect one from me tomorrow.