Pallbearer

Sorrow and Extinction (Profound Lore)

Sorrow and Extinction tills a gorgeously bleak expanse. Ancient, bone-dry guitars and igneous drums greet Brett Campbell’s voice as it swoops in like it’s looking for fresh carrion. This is the clarion call of the wasteland. Little Rock, Ark., quartet Pallbearer is responsible for one of the most engrossing, refreshing, and disturbingly powerful doom metal debuts in recent memory, these five bludgeoning tracks bringing the world to its knees. Raised on the reedy, purple-spotted psych of Black Sabbath – and twisting it into darker and blacker territory – these bone grinders and teeth smashers make charred emptiness feel wholly organic. “Devoid of Redemption” and “Given to the Grave” might sound typical in title, but Pallbearer’s relentlessness is no laughing matter. Effortlessly badass, unanimously insidious, and profoundly memorable, here’s the metal album that questions why we’d listen to anything else. (Sun., Black stage, 12:55pm)

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This article appears in November 2 • 2012.

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