This album starts off with one of the singles released leading up to this that got me really excited to hear this album, “I Saw The End”. There are some very Classic Rock oriented licks towards the intro, but those are quickly wiped out by the usual doom metal of Pallbearer. For the most part this comes off as triumphant sounding and vast as their last two full length albums to be honest, outside of the atmosphere. While the atmosphere is certainly here in spirit through lyrics and the vocal performance, but the overall it seems so much more fragile. However, that’s really my only complaint, I’ve loved this track since the first time I heard it, and vocalist Brett Campbell’s vocals are LOADS more memorable than on the covers EP Pallbearer released last year. The music of Pallbearer has always been very cinematic, and that feel is certainly back in droves here, and while I continue to miss the very dreary atmosphere this is certainly still epic. However the real story on “I Saw The End” is the beginning of the inclusion of more progressive rock elements, which certainly isn’t bad (at least not yet….). At least on “I Saw The End”, the progressive rock elements add nicely to the sheer epic ness of this track. Not to mention that slowed down verse towards the end is absolutely gigantic. Overall, this is a quality Pallbearer track, and most importantly, it has a slight catchiness to it that Pallbearer up to this point haven’t really been able to utilize. Up next is the only other track dropped from this album early, “Thorns”. Right away this has a much dirtier sounding production right off the bat, as Pallbearer bring in some serious metal influence, which certainly gives this record a little bite to it. While it’s grimy sounding, Pallbearer keep that huge, very epic sound that they’ve always had (especially in those opening solos). The vocals on this track are fantastic, and if you’re a fan of the HUGE passionate vocals of Pallbearer’s “Foundations of Burden” album, you’re gonna live this. Once again though, the atmosphere here is a little flimsy. When it comes to the chorus, it’s a little weird. At first it sounds fine, but by the end of it, it loses all of its steam. That being said, “Thorns” is still pretty damn good. Pallbearer obviously still kind’ve wear their influences all over their sleeves, which continues to include progressive rock bands. For the most part, the progressive rock influence has completely taken over. Here, it’s more present than ever, especially within some of those later guitar licks that are way too cheesy for my taste. Thankfully though, this track is powerful enough to fight through that. But when it comes to future releases for Pallbearer, boy am I ever worried. “Lie Of Survival” is up next, and I don’t know about y’all, but I can’t remember the last time I hear a Pallbearer song that was so bare. Pallbearer here continue to go for this cinematic metal sort of sound, but this intro instantly falls quite a bit short of that. The opening solo here isn’t nearly as emotional and heartfelt as they think it is, and every other instrumental is just as overblown and overproduced, and honestly the lease “metal” thing I’ve heard. Even when the crunchier guitars come in, this one just really doesn’t come off as anything but really sluggish. Now, trust me, I know that’s how doom metal is supposed to be, but it just isn’t done very well here. I do however like the vocals here quite a bit, once again I really gotta hand it to Brett Campbell for really bouncing back after that EP last year. But as far as the “epic” brand of metal that they’re going for, this quite frankly is falling so short that it’s pretty faceless, and dare I say, boring. Some of the later solos are alright, but I feel like in a way Pallbearer are trying way too hard. They’re trying to incorporate so many styles and genres, and honestly it’s way too big for them. The result is an 8 and a half minute song, with only 4 truly interesting minutes. “Lie Of Survival” is alright, but seriously falls short of the power of their older material. Up next is the near 12 minute “Dancing In Madness”, which honestly really isn’t that much better. It’s another track that’s seriously way too sluggish for it’s own good. If you’ve listened to Pallbearer in the past you’ll know damn well that even when they’re dealing with much slower tracks, it’s absolutely soul crushing. But here, while there seriously isn’t anything going on that’s truly terrible, there’s nothing going on that’s really that memorable either. “Dancing In Madness” contains solo after solo, and none of them add up to anything even remotely heartfelt. The synths that pop up in the background do nothing but make this track even cheesier. Thankfully though, things do get a little better around the 3 minute mark, seriously. But why in the hell did it take 3 whole minutes for something genuinely interesting to happen? And I know I said it earlier, but doom metal is a genre based around seriously patience testing long winded tracks. But “Dancing In Madness” is just so incredibly soulless. There are big instrumentals and even bigger vocals, but at the end of the day Pallbearer might have been a little more spot on wit the title than they thought (cause the material here is often HEARTLESS!! GET IT!?!?!?!!). All kidding aside though, to say this track is seriously bad though is a lie, because some of the later elements are great. Take for example the later guitars that get that fantastic chugging sound, and the vocals that follow are seriously crushing. It’s still far from what I expected to hear from Pallbearer here, but it’s a nice change of pace. The acoustic breakdown towards the end isn’t doing anyone any favors, but thankfully Pallbearer answer back with triumphant vocals and instrumentals. All of the elements of Pallbearer’s winning formula of the past are all here, but they’re seriously oversaturated and unfocused.
“Cruel Road” at the very least, has a whole lot of what’s been missing right from the opening bars. The huge atmosphere that made their past work such a pleasure to listen to is right back on display here, and the opening guitar solo for the first time basically on this entire album doesn’t come off completely full of itself. Here, Pallbearer sound like they really took their time in writing this, and the results are fantastic. The vocals, for my liking, could have been a little more over the top. But overall I just love the sheer heaviness of this, and as ridiculous and almost goofy these group vocals are, they certainly work great for Pallbearer. It may be the most straightforward here, but at the end of the day it’s Pallbearer being themselves and nothing more, and honestly that’s all we can ask for. Not to mention, there’s not a Progressive Rock element in sight. Up next is the title track, but can I just say I’m seriously sick of all of these bizarre interludes and spin off moments here. Pallbearer have proven that they can make fine music still, but it’s these quick little dashes into other genres that make this album disappointing. And it’s a shame, because here the vocals are seriously fantastic. To be honest, a whole lot of “Heartless” its really solid once everything gets going. My main issue remains the same though, and that is all of these damn Progressive Rock/Progressive Metal breakaways. It’s not flattering, it’s really just interrupting Pallbearer from what they do est. Some of these riffs as the track goes on are barely even touching the Doom Metal spectrum. Pallbearer have all the tools they need to seriously make another fantastic album. But on this album, they remain full of ideas, but are taking on about 6 different sounds that end up making them sound like something they're not. But tracks like this are so aggravating, because when we get to later moments like that quiet, atmospheric passage, I feel like it’s exactly what I’ve been wanting to hear this entire album. Moments like that seriously take me back to a simpler time for Pallbearer. As a matter of fact, a whole lot of the later moments here come off much more interesting, and even more interesting come off actually progressive. There continue to be plenty of great moments, but Pallbearer are seriously unfocused. This album ends off with the gigantic, 13 minute “A Plea For Understanding”. This track from it’s opening bars has a sort of Shoegaze - Black Metal feel that sounds like something Alcest would have done a few years back. It certainly sounds nice and all, but it’s just so damn spacious sounding. Where’s the tension? Where’s the dread? Everything I’ve come to know about Pallbearer is certainly still here, but once again it takes it’s sweet time coming out. Once things get rolling, this isn’t too bad. But in grand scheme of things, this is a completely different Pallbearer we’re dealing with, one you’re going to love or hate. It’s a Pallbearer that’s much less tortured and much more cinematic. Some of the solos here are OK, and I do like how some of the more somber tones have returned. But then Pallbearer throw that all away with some of the lamest vocals of the entire album. Add in one progressive metal element after another and I’ve thrown in the towel. Almost every track here has promise, but this is far from what I signed up for. While there are great moments, overall, this isn’t epic, this isn’t life changing, this is barely Doom Metal. This is just metal that’s severely overwritten and very full of itself.
Rating: 6.9/10
Give A Listen To: “I Saw The End”, “Thorns”, “Cruel Road”, "Heartless"
Overall Thoughts: You know, everything that made Pallbearer such an awesome band like 3 or 4 years ago is certainly still there. That's not the issue. The issue is that Pallbearer are trying so hard to be THE metal band that's gonna push every boundary and break every genre. Here, they blend doom metal, progressive metal, and all sorts of other genres and what ends up happening is not so shockingly, VERY messy. There are solid instrumentals here and a decent vocal or two there, but overall if I had to use one word to describe this album, it would be "Unfocused".
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