This music feels like it’s actively on a search for something and in this way, Pallbearer reaches universality previously hit by artists like the Beatles on Abbey Road or Pink Floyd at their most explorative.
While the biggest standout moments on Heartless are when Pallbearer are at their most towering and melodic, their impact is only so great because of how they are balanced by the album’s heavier spots.
If Pallbearer feels the eyes of the metal world upon it, it does a damn good job not showing a lick of sweat. Heartless continues the successes of Sorrow and Extinction and Foundations of Burden, while also incorporating familiar but tasteful sonic flourishes from adjacent genres.
In many ways, Heartless feels like Pallbearer’s prog album, turning down the distortion and allowing itself to wander within the confines of doom.
Heartless presents a broader repertoire of tones and hospitality for melody than the quartet's previous two albums, bridging these various dynamic fluctuations with crushing, palm-muted riffs.
Little Rock doom outfit Pallbearer returns with more bite and an even greater prog influence on their third album Heartless, their most varied and epic effort yet.
Pallbearer should be commended for making it this far with their sound, but Heartless, their third record, shows that they have run up against their limits.
I don't know if I'll ever come across another record that feels as specifically tailored for me as this one.
Pallbearer's near perfect Foundations of Burden is what really got me into doom metal. The band made the heavy guitars and stretched out song lengths accessible to me, and made me appreciate the technical abilities that are necessary to truly pull off a successful album. On Heartless, Pallbearer moved further out of doom metal, and into the realms of progressive and post rock.
Instead of dreary and depressive vocals over classic sludgy instrumentation, the band made a very tasteful transition ... read more
I don't know if I'll ever come across another record that feels as specifically tailored for me as this one.
I Saw the End - 75
Thorns - 75
Lie of Survival - 75
Dancing in Madness - 75
Cruel Road - 70
Heartless - 80
A Plea for Understanding - 75
1 | I Saw the End 6:21 | 84 |
2 | Thorns 5:24 | 85 |
3 | Lie of Survival 8:25 | 83 |
4 | Dancing in Madness 11:47 | 85 |
5 | Cruel Road 7:13 | 77 |
6 | Heartless 8:09 | 84 |
7 | A Plea for Understanding 12:40 | 83 |
#3 | / | Decibel |
#14 | / | Kerrang |
#18 | / | Consequence of Sound |
#20 | / | Bandcamp Daily |
#25 | / | Stereogum |
#27 | / | Treble |
#36 | / | Louder Than War |
#47 | / | The Needle Drop |
#82 | / | Earbuddy |