Biography
Little Rock, Arkansas-based Pallbearer operate as a four-piece doom metal unit drawn to crushing, unrelentingly dense sonics. Their approach draws from the deliberate, riff-driven foundations laid down by Black Sabbath while incorporating neo-psychedelic guitar harmonies and progressive-rock touches. The group first presented this blend on a three-song demo featuring their reading of the Billie Holiday standard "Gloomy Sunday." Guitar interplay became central to their identity with the 2012 debut album Sorrow and Extinction. Onstage and in the studio, the band piles impenetrably sludgy guitar layers over a dense, pulsating foundation of bass and drums. Foundations of Burden, which charted upon its 2014 release, moved toward a slower, more expansive atmosphere yet preserved the group's signature textures and contrasts, aided by Billy Anderson's production. Heartless, their third album from 2017, signaled a global breakthrough by claiming the number-one position across multiple charts. Forgotten Days followed in 2020 and likewise charted, with the quartet issuing Mind Burns Alive in 2024.
Pallbearer originated in 2008 amid the local metal community, initially comprising Brett Campbell on guitar and vocals, Devin Holt on guitar, and Joseph D. Rowland on bass, while the drum position rotated until Mark Lierly settled in during 2012. After two years of refinement that yielded a sound both starkly oppressive and melodically expansive, the band issued its self-titled demo in 2010 with Zach Stine on drums. Alongside the widely noted, high-volume rendition of "Gloomy Sunday," the recording contained the originals "The Legend" and "Devoid of Redemption." These tracks, paired with the band's rising concert profile, attracted Profound Lore, which signed the group and issued Sorrow and Extinction in 2012. Pallbearer also supplied two cuts to a split release alongside YOB, Atlas Moth, Loss, and Wolvhammer. Stine departed in 2011 and was succeeded by Chuck Schaaf as the band embarked on a world tour.
Ahead of the next recording cycle, Schaaf gave way to Lierly. The drummer's first studio appearance arrived on 2014's Foundations of Burden, produced and mixed by Billy Anderson, whose credits include work with Neurosis, Swans, and Sleep. The album earned praise from both metal and mainstream rock outlets, landing inside the upper half of the Billboard 200 while registering on six additional charts.
Over the following eighteen months the band maintained an international itinerary of headline dates, support slots, club and theater performances, and festival appearances. The three-song Fear & Fury EP surfaced in 2016, displaying a more melodic yet equally heavy direction that underscored the group's evolution. Pallbearer devoted the balance of that summer to tracking their third full-length, self-producing and capturing the sessions to analog tape at Fellowship Hall Sound in Little Rock before handing the mixes to Joe Barresi. Singles "Thorns" and "I Saw the End" preceded the March 2017 release of Heartless on Profound Lore. Early listeners accustomed to the prior aesthetic voiced reservations over the cleaner production and the insertion of prog-oriented melodic and instrumental passages, though the band anticipated such reactions and proceeded with touring. Unexpectedly, rock and indie listeners embraced the record, which garnered international airplay, topped the Heatseekers chart, reached the Top Ten on Hard Rock Albums, and placed in the Top Three on streaming rankings. The nearly two-year tour found Pallbearer headlining most festivals on the route and achieving unprecedented sales figures.
During the road stint the group issued two singles in 2018: the digital-only "Dropout," recorded for the Adult Swim Singles Program, and a streaming cover of Pink Floyd's "Run Like Hell" in September. The first half of 2019 was spent performing across Europe, South America, and the United States, capped by the June digital single pairing "Atlantis" with a live version of "Thorns." Intermittent sessions for the next album took place at Sonic Ranch in West Texas with Randall Dunn throughout late 2019 and early 2020. In July the band announced Forgotten Days alongside a Ben Meredith-directed video for the title track; the album appeared that October.
Attempts to record the subsequent album in 2020 were halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Pallbearer resumed touring in 2021, continued writing, and returned to the studio in 2022 only to scrap those sessions. Late in 2023 the quartet commenced work at Little Rock's Fellowship Hall Sound with engineers Jason Weinheimer and Zach Reeves, self-producing six newly composed pieces. "Where the Light Fades" arrived as a single and video in March 2024, followed in May by the full-length Mind Burns Alive, which features guest saxophone from Norman Williamson.
Pallbearer originated in 2008 amid the local metal community, initially comprising Brett Campbell on guitar and vocals, Devin Holt on guitar, and Joseph D. Rowland on bass, while the drum position rotated until Mark Lierly settled in during 2012. After two years of refinement that yielded a sound both starkly oppressive and melodically expansive, the band issued its self-titled demo in 2010 with Zach Stine on drums. Alongside the widely noted, high-volume rendition of "Gloomy Sunday," the recording contained the originals "The Legend" and "Devoid of Redemption." These tracks, paired with the band's rising concert profile, attracted Profound Lore, which signed the group and issued Sorrow and Extinction in 2012. Pallbearer also supplied two cuts to a split release alongside YOB, Atlas Moth, Loss, and Wolvhammer. Stine departed in 2011 and was succeeded by Chuck Schaaf as the band embarked on a world tour.
Ahead of the next recording cycle, Schaaf gave way to Lierly. The drummer's first studio appearance arrived on 2014's Foundations of Burden, produced and mixed by Billy Anderson, whose credits include work with Neurosis, Swans, and Sleep. The album earned praise from both metal and mainstream rock outlets, landing inside the upper half of the Billboard 200 while registering on six additional charts.
Over the following eighteen months the band maintained an international itinerary of headline dates, support slots, club and theater performances, and festival appearances. The three-song Fear & Fury EP surfaced in 2016, displaying a more melodic yet equally heavy direction that underscored the group's evolution. Pallbearer devoted the balance of that summer to tracking their third full-length, self-producing and capturing the sessions to analog tape at Fellowship Hall Sound in Little Rock before handing the mixes to Joe Barresi. Singles "Thorns" and "I Saw the End" preceded the March 2017 release of Heartless on Profound Lore. Early listeners accustomed to the prior aesthetic voiced reservations over the cleaner production and the insertion of prog-oriented melodic and instrumental passages, though the band anticipated such reactions and proceeded with touring. Unexpectedly, rock and indie listeners embraced the record, which garnered international airplay, topped the Heatseekers chart, reached the Top Ten on Hard Rock Albums, and placed in the Top Three on streaming rankings. The nearly two-year tour found Pallbearer headlining most festivals on the route and achieving unprecedented sales figures.
During the road stint the group issued two singles in 2018: the digital-only "Dropout," recorded for the Adult Swim Singles Program, and a streaming cover of Pink Floyd's "Run Like Hell" in September. The first half of 2019 was spent performing across Europe, South America, and the United States, capped by the June digital single pairing "Atlantis" with a live version of "Thorns." Intermittent sessions for the next album took place at Sonic Ranch in West Texas with Randall Dunn throughout late 2019 and early 2020. In July the band announced Forgotten Days alongside a Ben Meredith-directed video for the title track; the album appeared that October.
Attempts to record the subsequent album in 2020 were halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Pallbearer resumed touring in 2021, continued writing, and returned to the studio in 2022 only to scrap those sessions. Late in 2023 the quartet commenced work at Little Rock's Fellowship Hall Sound with engineers Jason Weinheimer and Zach Reeves, self-producing six newly composed pieces. "Where the Light Fades" arrived as a single and video in March 2024, followed in May by the full-length Mind Burns Alive, which features guest saxophone from Norman Williamson.
Albums
Singles
