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Pallbearer - Foundations Of Burden [Doom / Sludge]
Purchase: Foundations Of Burden | Profound Lore Records


[Full Album] Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden (2014) - YouTube

NEIN OUTTA TEHN

I've been doubting my own ears since I first heard this, trying to tell myself that it's just the hype and it's not as good as people are making it out to be, but it just becomes more beautiful each time I hear it. Foundations Of Burden is just incredible, this is an album I'm sure I'll be holding closely for years to come, and although the buzz is still fresh in my ears I don't feel entirely hasty holding it up as one of the best albums I've heard in my life. The production is massive, unique, and encompassing, the songwriting is confident, precise, and elegant, and the emotion and atmosphere are thick and looming. The album has been getting remarkably universal praise from a variety of music blogs, I'm seeing it pop up everywhere, and they deserve every ounce of that attention.

The sound is so densely layered and intricately detailed, every note is hit with focused intent, everyone is listening to each other and each instrument so confidently compliments the other. The vocals are especially interesting here, pairing soaring clarity and emotion with peculiar melodies. Each track confidently eases forward in mood and atmosphere but there's something intellectually foggy about all of it, something personal to the artists that you can't know. And for a doom album it really manages to hold its head up, that familiar feeling of hopelessness and isolation isn't present here like it is in most of the genre. It's dark for sure but the sound itself seems to cut through like beams of sunlight, it's always humid and warm, never cold.

I can't recommend this enough to anyone that takes music seriously, regardless of your taste, this album is a ****ing novel. It performs very well on both large sound systems and in headphones, so go with whatever you prefer, but if I had to recommend one over the other I'd go with headphones, the sound is so elegantly layered here that closer proximity to the speakers will likely reveal more to your ears. Let it grow on you, this is an album that you need to give your full attention to, an album that grows in complexity the longer you listen to it. I'll be seeing Pallbearer live in a small bar come December, I don't believe I've ever been this hyped for a show.

Favourite track: The Ghost I Used to Be

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Trollheart

Absolutely. I just reviewed this in Metal Month II. I still have goosebumps!

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

CoNtrivedNiHilism

I reviewed this album as well in my journal. It was my introduction to this band, month ago or so. I thought it was one of the best albums I have heard in years. Real good stuff.