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Pallbearer

Jun 25, 2024 By Matthew Berlyant Photography by Matthew Berlyant Web Exclusive

Sometimes, when a band plays a brilliant new album live, as Little Rock, Arkansas doom metal standard bearers Pallbearer did to a packed audience at the venerable Underground Arts in Philadelphia, one can expect a faithful replication of the versions on said album (Mind Burns Alive), just turned up a little. This was most definitely NOT the case on this night, as they were crushingly, stunningly heavy, almost to the point of transcendence, playing at a volume usually only touched by the likes of Swans, My Bloody Valentine, the reunited Stooges, Sunn O)), and others of that tinnitus-inducing ilk. While the album is at times lush, beautiful, and ethereal, live it was all muscle, but in a deeply psychedelic way. This made for an enriching, enrapturing, almost out-of-body experience during their hour-long set, which opened with “Forgotten Days” from their 2020 album of the same name. During the set, however, five of Mind Burns Alive’s six songs were touched upon and they all sounded great. Not forgetting fans who may have come on board years before, they made sure to play one song from each of their previous four albums, too. Furthermore, they even had opening band REZN’s saxophone/synth player Spencer Oulette come out for the sax part on Mind Burns Alive’s “Endless Place,” which on the record is played by their friend Norman Williamson. Thereby, this ensured that in addition to all the heaviness, some light would find its way into the mix as well.

And speaking of REZN, the Chicago-based group is billed as comprised of touring sound engineers for the likes of groups such as Pelican and Russian Circles, and like some of those bands, they blur the line between a modern take on the heavy psychedelic rock of the late ‘60s/early ‘70s and the full-on doom metal that followed in its wake. Psychedelic doom perhaps? Regardless of categorization, it was again a hypnotic, completely tantalizing, and immersive wall-of-noise/sound that was the perfect warm-up for what we were about to witness.

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