Pallbearer

Few bands have struck such a deep and emotional chord within the world of doom in the last few years as Pallbearer The quartet from Little Rock, Arkansas stormed out of the gates with their demo in 2010 which instantly made a gigantic splash in the more attentive underground, and their debut Sorrow And Extinction two years later really sealed the deal for just about anyone into any kind of heavy music.

At their core a doom band, yes, as the mournful sadness and the slow heaviness of their long, funereal songs more than attest, but they are able to transcend their genre of birth with heartfelt nods to past giants. Most of all, they’ve always sounded, more than anything else, like Pallbearer. That is why as early as 2013, while touring in support of that amazing debut album, we invited them to come and woo the Roadburn audience, which they did, not once, but twice, playing on Thursday and on the Afterburner of that year as well. Since then, Foundations Of Burden has come out, confirming all the enormous expectations and expanding their forlorn, tragically beautiful appeal.

A month or so prior to Roadburn, Pallbearer will drop their brand new album, Heartless (which will be released on March 24 via Profound Lore Records in North America and, Nuclear Blast in the EU)  – and the anticipation is already high for that one. As a little taster, the boys have dropped a little EP called Fear & Fury with a new song and a couple of very appropriate cover versions – Black Sabbath and Type O Negative. The return of Pallbearer is cause for celebration and see us spinning the first two records a bunch more times to remember all those winding, desolate melodies and crushing riffs in preparation for this great event.

The band has spent the last couple of years touring massively around the world, sometimes headlining, sometimes supporting some of our favourite bands, like our beloved curator John Dyer Baizley’s band Baroness who have been on the road with Pallbearer but a couple of months ago. So won over was John, that he invited Pallbearer to perform as an addition to his curated event at Roadburn 2017.

John Dyer Baizley comments: “Pallbearer is coming to Roadburn. Chances are, most of you are aware of them; you know… the doomy band with the soaring nearly-pop vocals and beautiful twin guitar-monies.

They are a fantastic set of musicians, and have a seamless chemistry onstage. Baroness have been very lucky to have toured with them and to have played alongside them at quite a few memorable shows, not least of which was our comeback show in Philadelphia following our bus accident. More recently we’ve sung countless Foreigner, The Band, Priest, and Spinal Tap songs with them at Benny’s Karaoke on Tybee Island, GA (much to the dismay of the locals); and we really have forged a friendship with this group.

These guys have a ceaseless and dedicated tour-ethic; and in a four-week tour through the United States I literally never heard a single complaint from them (for any reason whatsoever), which is anomalous to say the least, everyone should have something to complain about! They, like so many bands in my curation, are undeniably solid-gold folks on top of it all, which is why it’s so important to include them in my lineup for Roadburn 2017.”

We like to think Roadburn 2017 is a sort of sanctuary for Pallbearer, so it can be said they will be welcome among their own once again at the 013 venue on Sunday, April 23.

Roadburn Festival 2017 will take place April 20-23 at the 013 venue, Tilburg, The Netherlands. Tickets are now on sale!

José Carlos Santos