Review: Pallbearer Hones the Art of Doom Metal Balladry with Mind Burns Alive
As doom purists threaten to take the place of black metal elitists as the most annoying people in metal, Pallbearer is no stranger to braving the backlash to branch out from low, slow, and dreary to explore other sonic avenues. The first major departure from doom orthodoxy was 2017’s Heartless, which had definite shades of ‘70s arena rock or vintage prog. After rustling some jimmies in the riff-worshipper community, 2020’s Forgotten Days felt a bit safer by doom standards. But even during the days of Sorrow and Extinction (2012), it was clear that Pallbearer had more to offer than lethargic depression and riffs. That’s exactly what’s on display on Mind Bursts Alive. While not going full dad-rock (like Mastodon did with Emperor of Sand), Mind Burns Alive is defined by a decision to leave a lot of space for what can best be described as doom power ballads.
The term “Doom Power Ballads” might be enough to send purists into a wild rage, but like any power ballad, the devil is in the details. Taking away the suffocating blankets of distortion means the melodies and dynamics have better flow, and that’s exactly what “Where The Light Fades” provides. It’s easily the most accessible song on the record, but the melodicism and chord progressions are still undeniably Pallbearer. The sadness lies heavy over every facet of the song, regardless of its relative buoyancy, but the rising action leads to a song filled not with crushing chugs. It’s actually more similar to shoegaze-meets-Floyd than anything particularly doomy. The doom comes more from how somber and melancholic the band remains in this lighter touch. It also gives the lyrics more chance to hang in the air, the evocative touch of which has long been a pallbearer staple.
Considering the advent of certain Earth albums, or doom-adjacent serenaders like True Widow, it’s not unheard of for a song like “Mind Burns Alive” to embody the spirit of doom without rumbling your intestines with its delivery. It’s like lowercase doom. The sluggish rhythms and crestfallen progressions are there, but they soothe rather than stomp. Even the synth solo takes on an ambient quality, just like the brush-on-drum cadences of “Signals.” As the growling bass carries the song to its climax, Brett Campbell’s heartfelt lyrics do cut to the core of watching a loved one struggle with themselves: “You tell me you wanna run/ Wanna free yourself from pain/ But the demons haunting you/ Hold you in this place.”
Let it never be said that this was the point Pallbearer shied away from long songs. “Endless Place” uses this length to traverse a lush array of dynamics, with well-timed seconds of silence interspersing the verse/chorus transitions. From immaculate vocal harmonies and tranquil acoustic guitars to fiery solo work from both guitar and Saxophone, it’s the perfect song to get lost in—riding that line between jammy and calculated. It never feels like they’re just killing time, but instead building to moments that bear repeating. But such nuanced crescendos wouldn’t be possible if Pallbearer didn’t make the choice to get away from just trying to break apart contents with their guitar tones. “Daybreak” uses volume simply as an augmenter. If it wasn’t there, you’d have a pleasant, folksy number. But those pinpointed moments to cut loose with the heaviness they have locked instead become all the more satisfying due to their sparsity this time around.
Lines like “Rage and despair hangs in the air/ Once burgeoning, now gone fallow” really drive the vulnerability of this outing home. Pallbearer actually may drop the darkest, most traditional doom riff on closing cut “With Disease,” but not before lulling listeners into trance with despondent beaty. There’s even an over-raught scream to lead into the destructive distortion, a pleasant surprise indeed. But the thing that makes Mind Burns Alive a worthy listen is the way it commands emotion not through extremity, but through tact. It shows, once again, that Pallbearer are songwriters—Riff-writers, to be sure, but also fleshing out ideas with a broader appeal. Mind Burns Alive will appeal to doom novices, and may even get the purists to understand that there’s more to music than brown-notes and depression.
Pallbearer’s Mind Burns Alive is available now via Nuclear Blast Records.
