That the band took it upon themselves to subtly yet profoundly revamp—and exquisitely humanize—doom is just part of the reason why Foundations Of Burden is such a brave record. The other is the fact that it’s quite simply moving, the sounds of dislocated souls finding a voice at last.
Foundations of Burden has chosen to hone in on those moments of hope and illumination, in an effort that is even more emotionally ambitious an undertaking, and all the more wounding for its beauty.
This is an ambitious record that doesn't feel at all over-worked or stale, and while Sorrow and Extinction holds up beautifully two years later, Foundations is the stronger collection to the point that Sorrow almost comes across as demos for this new material.
Not only is the album consistently hooky, the melodies carry a greater sense of function, with the flaring guitars highlighting whichever feeling Campbell is conveying at the time.
The Little Rock quartet do doom metal better than just about anyone else in the genre. They mix the crushing, cold-storage riffage of stoner metal with the psychedelic interludes of, well, classic Mastodon.
Requisite darkness is all over Foundations of Burden, but it isn't the only shade of emotion here. There's the hint of a glimmer in each song that other doom bands can't conceive, let alone get to.
If they continue to write songs of this statue in the future then Pallbearer could well be doom metal’s light at the end of the tunnel.
As a sophomore album, it does everything it needs to do to keep Pallbearer’s status as being elites in their genre.
Pallbearer's latest full-length draw out a lot of the same sounds and themes that played through the band's debut album.
Foundations of Burden is special, there’s little question of that, but the precocious virtuosity of the performance doesn’t change the fact that the material is far from challenging.
damn so i guess im one of the few who feels this strongly about this LP but it really blew me away. as far as metal goes, i havent listened to that much of it. im a huge fan of metallica, and i really doubt that any other metal band will make as large of an impact on me as they did. but god damn is this an incredible album. i didnt think anything would come close to master of puppets, but this is just a bit better. the vocals were dreary and had a depressed tone, they were very well ... read more
Literally some of the greatest Metal music I've ever heard.
This album is absolutely beautiful, and very amazing.
And I mean, it is so easy to get lost in.
It sounds so heavenly as well
This is incredible. Legit a perfect album for me.
An very underrated album, I would recommend this album.
I like almost everything about it, except I feel like the singing should be more depressed. Sometimes he sounds like he's stepped in from a nearby Power metal band and his style doesn't quite match up with everything else. Like it's a bit too hopeful, needs more doom.
Literally some of the greatest Metal music I've ever heard.
This album is absolutely beautiful, and very amazing.
And I mean, it is so easy to get lost in.
It sounds so heavenly as well
This is incredible. Legit a perfect album for me.
An very underrated album, I would recommend this album.
Listened to on - 5/13/2023
Favorite Song - Foundations
Least Favorite Song - Ashes
----------Song Ratings----------
1. Worlds Apart - 4/5
2. Foundations - 4.5/5
3. Watcher in the Dark - 3.5/5
4. The Ghost I Used to Be - 3/5
5. Ashes - 2.5/5
6. Vanished - 3.5/5
1 | Worlds Apart 10:16 | 100 |
2 | Foundations 8:41 | 100 |
3 | Watcher in the Dark 10:40 | 100 |
4 | The Ghost I Used to Be 10:17 | 100 |
5 | Ashes 3:19 | 100 |
6 | Vanished 11:41 | 100 |
#1 | / | Decibel |
#20 | / | Wondering Sound |
#23 | / | Grantland (Steven Hyden) |
#27 | / | SPIN |
#41 | / | musicOMH |
/ | NPR Music |