| Forgotten Days | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Studio album by Pallbearer | ||
| Released | October 23 2020 | |
| Recorded | at Sonic Ranch Studio in Tornillo, Texas | |
| Genre | Doom Metal, Epic Doom Metal, Progressive Metal | |
| Length | 52:58 | |
| Label | Nuclear Blast Records | |
| Producer | Randall Dunn | |
| Pallbearer chronology | ||
| Atlantis (2019) |
Forgotten Days (2020) |
TBA (TBA) |
Forgotten Days is the fourth studio album by the Arkansas doom metal band Pallbearer. Released in the Fall of 2020, it would notably be the first Pallbearer album on Nuclear Blast Records, after the band would sign a worldwide deal with the label not long after the release of 2017's Heartless.
Recording would take place at Sonic Ranch Studios in West Texas. Mixing would be handled at Strange Weather Studios in Brooklyn. Finally, mastering would take place at Metropolis Mastering in London. The album would be produced by Randall Dunn.
Music videos would also be produced for "Forgotten Days" and "The Quicksand of Existing".
Background[]
Work would begin on a fourth album through 2019 and after some delays due to The CO-VID19 Pandemic and opening up a Patreon with exclusives for fans, Pallbearer would announce their fourth studio album Forgotten Days, set for a 23 October release via Nuclear Blast. In a press release for the album, Joseph Rowland would explain some of the themes in regards of the album:
| “ | "Forgotten Days is us exploring what is natural to us. The songs tell me where I need to go when I write. We wanted to focus on songs that were visceral and enjoyable to play live—that our audiences would enjoy experiencing. We’re also getting back to more of the groovier and heavier elements of Pallbearer. Heartless is fairly uptempo and technical. This one is a little more open, it hammers you.
This record has a lot of thematic ties to our first record. When we were writing Sorrow and Extinction, my mother was terminally ill. It’s been 10 years since she passed. It’s taken me all of this time to take a really good look at myself. While we were writing Forgotten Days, I knew, “Now is the time to sit down and begin to understand who I have become.”" |
” |
— Joseph Rowland, Pitchfork[1]
|
Forgotten Days was met with universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 84 based on eight reviews.[2]
Jon Hadusek of Consequence of Sound praised the album, stating that it "is arguably the best doom metal album of 2020 and an impressive label debut. Thanks to Dunn's minimalist production, the album is a sonic pleasure, and it's instantly more listenable and accessible than Heartless.[3] AllMusic's Thom Jurek wrote, "Forgotten Days is the album that will likely unite all Pallbearer fans. Its return-to-roots aesthetic is planted in a physical base that carries the band's dark, progressive doom into a new era".[4] Hannah May Kilroy of Kerrang! wrote, "There's nothing too out there on Forgotten Days – the '80s synth of the closing "Caledonia" probably the biggest surprise, but a welcome one: a playful take on the pain of the past – and all the tracks are solid, with any experimentation woven tightly around Pallbearer's doom roots. This is the sound of a genre being refreshed, and of a band making it entirely their own".[5] Dave Everley of Classic Rock magazine wrote, "Their fourth album takes yet more detours, but without ever losing sight of the path. Devotees of lead-heavy riffs will be spoilt by the title track and "Rites Of Passage", and the pace never exceeds sluggish". Grayson Haver Currin of Pitchfork wrote, "These eight songs grapple candidly with [family loss], but, like the music itself, the words don't wallow. Instead, Pallbearer use these tragedies to revel in being alive, or to answer the 'gnawing doubts that I ever learned to live'".[6] Other notable reviews would come from the likes of Riff Magazine (8/10),[7] New Noise Magazine (4.5/5)[8] and Sonic Perspectives[9] among others.
Forgotten Days would also appear on several year-end lists, including the following:
- Consequence of Sound - Top 50 Albums of 2020 (#26)[10]
- Decibel Magazine - Top 40 Albums of 2020 (#19)[11]
- The Obelisk - The Top 50 Records of 2020 (#18)[12]
- Metal Hammer - The 50 Best Metal Albums of 2020 (#14)[13]
- The Obelisk - The Top 20 Records of 2020 Year-End Poll (#12)[14]
- PopMatters - Top 10 Progressive Rock / Metal Albums of 2020 (#5)[15]
Tracklist[]
All music by Pallbearer.
- 1. Forgotten Days (6:28)
- 2. Riverbed (6:24)
- 3. Stasis (4:00)
- 4. Silver Wings (12:18)
- 5. The Quicksand Of Existing (3:59)
- 6. Vengeance & Ruination (6:53)
- 7. Rite Of Passage (4:55)
- 8. Caledonia (7:58)
Personnel[]
Pallbearer[]
- Bree Campbell - Guitar, Piano, Synthesizer, Vocals; Lyrics (1, 3, 4, 6)
- Joseph D. Rowland - Bass, Synthesizers, Guitar, Baritone Guitar, Vocals; Lyrics (2, 5, 7, 8)
- Devin Holt - Guitar, Backing Vocals
- Mark Lierly - Drums, Percussion
Other Personnel[]
- Randall Dunn - Producer, Mixing
- Justin Morris - Engineer
- Matt Colton - Mastering
- Rob Kimura - Design, Layout
- Michael Lierly - Paintings
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ PitchforkPallbearer Announce New Album Forgotten Days, Share New Song accessed 12 July 2020
- ↑ Metacritic
- ↑ Consequence of Sound
- ↑ AllMusic
- ↑ Kerrang
- ↑ Pitchfork
- ↑ Riff Magazine
- ↑ New Noise Magazine
- ↑ Sonic Perspectives
- ↑ Consequence of Sound
- ↑ Decibel Magazine
- ↑ The Obelisk
- ↑ Louder Sound
- ↑ The Obelisk
- ↑ PopMatters
| V·T·E Pallbearer | |
|---|---|
| Current Members | Brett Campbell • Devin Holt • Joseph D. Rowland • Mark Lierly |
| Past Members | David Dobbs •Zach Stine •Chuck Schaff • Kevin Rains |
| Studio Albums | Sorrow and Extinction • Foundations of Burden • Heartless • Forgotten Days |
| Other Releases | Demo 2010 • Pallbearer Live • Fear & Fury • Dropout • Atlantis |