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Pallbearer
Pallbearer
Pallbearer
Background information
Origin Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
Genres Doom Metal, Progressive Metal
Years active 2008 - present
Labels Profound Lore Records, Sub Pop, Nuclear Blast
Associated acts Sports, The Slow Death, Deadbird, Story Of The Eye, Mothwind
Website Official Page
Current members Brett Campbell
Devin Holt
Joseph D. Rowland
Mark Lierly

Pallbearer are a doom metal band from Little Rock, Arkansas. Formed in 2008, Pallbearer have gone on to release four full-length albums that have garnered a great deal of success among critics such as Pitchfork, NPR, Spin and Decibel Magazine. They are known for their distinctive artwork, dynamic musicianship and soulful vocals among a traditional doom metal sound.

History[]

Early Years (2008 - 2011)[]

Pallbearer began in 2008 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Little is known of the beginnings of the band with their first show being on May 28, 2009 (With Ginsu Wives and Thrones) at Downtown Music Hall in Little Rock. Sometime in 2010 the band self-released a demo, limited to 120 copies. The demo featured two songs that would later appear on the first album along with a cover of "Gloomy Sunday" by Billie Holiday.

The band would perform sporadic dates around in Texas, Louisiana and the Carolinas along with Arkansas in 2011. Eventually they would be signed to Profound Lore in September of that year.[1] The band would do a tour of the United States that December leading up the album's release in February.

Sorrow and Extinction and Rise (2012 - 2013)[]

Pallbearer's debut album Sorrow and Extinction was released via Profound Lore on February 21, 2012. A vinyl edition was released via 20 Buck Spin in August that year. Sorrow and Extinction was praised by music critics, notably being listed as #3 on Decibel Magazine's Top 40 albums of 2012 and #1 on Pitchfork's "Top 40 Metal albums of 2012".

The band toured the United States twice in support of the album in 2012 with further touring in 2013 and new songs appearing in the sets. The band would perform their first shows outside of the United States with a string of shows in Canada early that year, two performances at that year's Roadburn Festival and an appearance at HellFest in Clisson, France. Other festival appearances in 2013 included Scion RockFest and Doomslang to name a few.

Foundations of Burden and Further Success (2014 - 2015)[]

Pallbearer further toured North America in 2014 with their first full European tour happening that year. On August 19, 2014 the band would release their second album in Foundations of Burden, produced by Billy Anderson. Further praised by critics, it would even be awarded #1 metal album of 2014 by Decibel Magazine.

2015 would feature the band's first appearances in Japan and Australasia along with more touring in support of the album. In February of 2015, Decibel Magazine released a flexi of the Pallbearer song Fear and Fury.

Heartless (2016 - Present)[]

Pallbearer toured in January/February of 2016, working in instrumental versions of new songs in their sets as a tease of forthcoming material in the works. The band would release the Fear and Fury EP on August 10 with a remastered version of Fear and Fury along with covers of Type O Negative's "Love You To Death" and Black Sabbath's "Over and Over". The announcement was a surprise leading up to their tour with Baroness.

The band would release their third album named Heartless in March 2017, with a mini-tour that same month leading up to the album's release.[2] On 19 January 2017 the band announced a tour of Europe and the UK including an appearance at Roadburn Festival. A music video was presented via Nuclear Blast for the song "I Saw The End". In 2018 the band would add a new song to their live performances for a February tour in an instrumental form and later with lyrics fora mini-tour that April. On 12 April 2018 this new song, Dropout, would be released via Adult Swim Singles.

Pallbearer would take most of 2019 off from touring to concentrate on writing a new studio album. On 14 June 2019 the band would make a series of announcements, the first would be that the band composed a new song for the Sub Pop Singles series entitled Atlantis.[3] Two hours later the band would announce a short mini-tour to commemorate the band's tenth anniversary (With select dates featuring the band performing all of Sorrow and Extinction)[4] along with announcing their signing to Nuclear Blast.[5]

Work would begin on a fourth album through 2019 and after some delays due to The Covid-19 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[6]

Pallbearer would perform sporadically in 2021, planning tours and marquee appearances in 2022 surrounding the tenth anniversary of Sorrow and Extinction. The band would premiere two new songs on a 2023 tour with Yob and are set to record their fifth studio album in the Summer of 2023.[7]

Discography[]

Studio Albums[]

Other Releases[]

Members[]

Current Lineup[]

  • Brett Campbell - Guitar, Vocals (2008 - Present)
  • Devin Holt - Guitar, Backing Vocals (2008 - Present)
  • Joseph D. Rowland - Bass, Backing Vocals (2008 - Present)
  • Mark Lierly - Drums (2012 - Present)

Past Members[]

  • David Dobbs - Drums (2008 - 2009)
  • Zach Stine - Drums (2009 - 2011)
  • Chuck Schaff - Drums (2011 - 2012)
  • Kevin Rains - Drums (Unknown Time Period)

Live Musicians[]

  • Nate Garrett - Additional Live Vocals (2017)

Tours[]

  • December 2011 North American Tour (2011)
  • Summer 2012 North American Tour (2012)[8]
  • 2012 North American Tour (With Royal Thunder, Samothrace) (2012)[9]
  • May 2013 Shows (With Boris) (2013)
  • Spring 2013 US Tour (with Enslaved, Royal Thunder, Ancient Wisdom) (2013)[10]
  • 2013 European Tour (With Royal Thunder; canceled) (2013)[11]
  • Fall 2013 US Tour (With Saint Vitus, The Hookers) (2014)[12]
  • 2014 US Tour (With Deafheaven) (2014)[13]
  • 2014 European Tour (With Yob) (2014)[14]
  • 2014 Fall North American Tour (With Tombs,Vattnet Viskar) (2014)[15]
  • Spring 2015 North American Tour (With At The Gates, Converge, Vallenfyre) (2015)[16]
  • 2015 Australasia Tour (2015)
  • 2015 European Tour (2015)[17]
  • Fall 2015 US Tour (With High on Fire, Lucifer, Venomous Maximus) (2015) [18]
  • Winter 2016 North American Tour (With Bell Witch, Wrekmeister Harmonies) (2016)[19]
  • Spring 2016 North American Tour (2016)[20]
  • Fall 2016 North American Tour (With Baroness) (2016)[21]
  • Spring 2017 North American Mini-Tour (2017)
  • Heartless UK & Europe Tour (With Pinkish Black on select dates) (2017)
  • Heartless North American Tour (With Inter Arma, Gatecreeper) (2017)
  • Heartless New Zealand / Australia Tour (2017)
  • Heartless North American Tour Leg 2 (With Gojira, Oni, Gost, Kayo Dot) (2017)
  • Heartless Fall European Tour (With Paradise Lost, Sinistro) (2017)
  • Winter 2018 North American Tour (With Ruby The Hatchet, Sumokem, Spotlights) (2018)[22]
  • March/April 2018 North American Mini-Tour (With Spirit Adrift, Adam Faucett) (2018)[23]
  • 2018 Summer North American Tour (With Obituary, Skeletonwitch, Dust Bolt) (2018)[24]
  • Dropout European and US Tour (2018) [25]
  • 2018 Fall North American Tour (With Tribulation) (2018)
  • 10th Anniversary Mini-Tour (Select dates with Baroness) (2019)
  • September 2019 Mini-Tour (Select dates with Destroyer of Light) (2019)[26]
  • Sorrow and Extinction 10th Anniversary Tour (2022)
  • 2022 Fall European Tour (With Elder) (2022)[27]
  • 2023 North American Tour (With Yob) (2023)
  • August 2023 Shows (With Rwake, Spirit Adrift) (2023)
  • Fall 2023 Tour (With High on Fire) (2023)[28]

External Links[]

References[]

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 ExtinctionFoundations of BurdenHeartlessForgotten Days
Other Releases Demo 2010Pallbearer LiveFear & FuryDropoutAtlantis
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