Pallbearer – Forgotten Days
Release Date: 23rd October 2020
Label: Nuclear Blast
Bandcamp
Genre: Doom
FFO: Khemmis, Spirit Adrift, Windhand, Candlemass.
Review By: Paul Cairney
By now, you may well have bought/streamed Forgotten Days by Arkansas doom heavyweights, Pallbearer. Alas, this reviewer managed to injure his neck, limiting the amount of time I could spend at my laptop, but, fortuitously, allowed additional, unexpected, listens to what is a very decent album.
Expanding on their previous opus, ‘Heartless’, Forgotten Days is more than mere doom. Continually developing their sound, Pallbearer have developed progressive leanings, but crucially, without diluting the doom. It is a difficult feat, executed with aplomb.
Vocalist Brett Campbell’s voice is incredibly suited to this style, his mournful tone fits perfectly, especially as the song slows down, leaving the vocals to lead. ‘Riverbed’ is a great example of this. It is the sound of a band operating as one, no weaknesses and utter belief in themselves.
Often Doom albums have, what seems to be, 3 songs and lasts about 80 minutes. Forgotten Days does not do this. Coming in at a little over 50 minutes, with 8 songs, there are few ‘epics’ on here. ‘Silver Wings’ is, by a long way, the longest track on the album clocking a fine 12 minutes 18 seconds. Well-constructed and multi-layered, it occasionally teeters on the edge of meandering, but just about pulls back from the edge and ultimately rewards the listener by the end.
The most impressive aspect of the album is the very strong opening and ending. These are the 2 best songs on the album. The opening title track sets a level that the album never really quite matches. It may well be that this is what led to my neck injury. Album closer, ‘Caledonia’ is more of a surprise, with its use of synths intermingled with the doomy riffs. It is a worthy track to close an album that improves with each listen. 
(4 / 5)
