Pop Notes

Pallbearer's newest CD is a hefty, trippy Burden

Pallbearer "Foundations of Burden"
Pallbearer "Foundations of Burden"

Little Rock doom metal band Pallbearer had been holed up for a month at Type Foundry Studios in Portland, Ore., frantically working to finish recording Foundations of Burden, the follow-up to its acclaimed 2012 debut Sorrow and Extinction.

Beginning in mid-February, the band -- Brett Campbell, vocals/guitar; Joseph D. Rowland, bass, keyboard, vocals; Devin Holt, guitars, vocals; Mark Lierly, drums -- were practically living in the studio, toiling 12-14 hours a day in a push to finish the album on deadline and dealing with technical snafus that included having to re-record some sections of the record after audio files became corrupted.

"Time was definitely not on our side," says Rowland, but the group eventually got the album ready for its Ontario-based label, Profound Lore, with, oh, about an hour to spare.

The fruits of all that labor should please fans of Sorrow and Extinction, an album that attracted raves from outlets as diverse as Spin, National Public Radio, Decibel, Entertainment Weekly and indy music review website Pitchfork (pitchfork.com).

Foundations of Burden, which will be available in stores and online Tuesday, takes Sorrow's bruising and haunted Pallbearer template and pushes it even further, over six soaring, expansive tracks -- only one is under eight minutes and most are well over 10.

Perhaps the most obvious difference is in the recording. Unlike Sorrow, which the band recorded piecemeal over the course of a year in Fayetteville with Chuck Schaff producing, Foundations of Burden benefits from what one would have to assume was a bigger recording budget and better equipment. The band worked with producer Billy Anderson, who has been behind the board for heavy hitters like the Melvins, Agalloch, Neurosis, Unsane, Mr. Bungle and a long list of others.

"He's produced so many amazing records," Rowland says of Anderson. "He knows how to get the best out of you."

The result is a clearer-sounding album, one that highlights Pallbearer's complex mix of molten, slow-moving metal and touches of progressive rock. It's a thunderous and imposing collection -- songs that can be heavy and trippy, dark and hopeful -- with layer upon layer of guitars, with Lierly and Rowland's rhythm section pressing on like a barge going upriver. And there's an atmosphere of pensiveness that is undeniable.

"I feel like this is a pretty big step up for us," Rowland says. "I love Sorrow and Extinction, but this is a step above."

Campbell's voice, one of the band's strong points, has matured and sounds even more powerful on Foundations, the result of steady touring and performing over the past year or so.

"He's more confident now," Rowland says. "We've played a lot of shows. He's sung in front of crowds of 5,000 people and he's a much stronger vocalist now. He's honed his technique."

And the band has become even more collaborative, with Lierly now fully integrated into the group (he joined after the recording of Sorrow) and Holt and Rowland adding backing vocals to flesh out tracks, like the opener, "Worlds Apart," "Watcher in the Dark" and "The Ghost I Used to Be."

"I wanted to have that expanded dynamic in the vocal department," Rowland says. "It makes it a richer experience, I think."

Rowland even takes over lead vocals on the gentle and, for Pallbearer at least, brief (it's just 3:19!) "Ashes," with its quiet keyboard, sheets of fuzzy guitars and Lierly's slowed-down drums making for an otherworldly sound.

Pallbearer is gearing up for an extensive stretch of touring. A CD release show is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Rev Room in Little Rock. Later, the band will begin a five-week European trek; a North American tour is scheduled for fall.

Style on 08/17/2014

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