Review & photos by Andrew Bansal
December 5th 2014, The Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood CA: Based on the strength of their tremendously successful sophomore effort ‘Foundations Of Burden’ which was released by Profound Lore Records earlier this year, Little Rock, Arkansas quartet Pallbearer have been perhaps the strongest rising force in the world of doom metal of late. As expected, they embarked on a non-stop run of tours straight after the August release of the album, and are currently in the first week of a headline North America tour with support acts Solstafir and Mortals. The three-pronged package visited Los Angeles for a gig at a nearly sold-out Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, and having never seen any of these bands live prior to this event, I was more than psyched to be in attendance, to discover whether Pallbearer’s music has the same impact in a live environment and what Solstafir and Mortals brought to the table as openers.
Doors opened at 8, the lovely venue filled up steadily, and there was a more-than-decent sized crowd by the time Mortals began their set at 8:30. The Brooklyn-based blackened sludge trio came across as a novelty because of being an all-girl ensemble, but their musicianship spoke for itself more than anything else, as their crusty doom won over this crowd more and more as the 30-minute set progressed. The build-up from a down-tempo initial phase to faster-paced segments was greatly noticeable through the set, and the number of heads banging in the audience increased by the minute. When guitarist/vocalist Elizabeth Cline thanked the crowd and announced the last rites of the set, many people were already asking them to play longer. This five-year old band was an unknown entity to most in attendance including myself, but upon witnessing the conviction and flow in their live performance and the quality of their tunes, it’s safe to put them amongst the likes of fellow New York bands Black Anvil and Tombs as worthy flag-bearers of the heavy. In my humble opinion, their show was as strong as Pallbearer’s, and far better than the band in between.
Mortals links: facebook | twitter | instagram | bandcamp
Iceland’s Solstafir attracted quite a considerable portion of this audience all by themselves, and some people I was talking to before the show clearly stated that they were here mainly to see Solstafir. This was evident from the hugely positive response they received for their 45-minute set. But in all honesty, their brand of folky doom rock didn’t really sit right with me, and not even for a single moment did I feel like I was enjoying their set or understanding what they were trying to do. Granted, the blend of styles they incorporate in their music is rather unique, but unique does not always mean good. Their set had little to no variation in it and all songs seemed to run into each other. But the most striking aspect of their show was the severe disconnect between their music and their on-stage appearance. It was far from Icelandic or even European and instead they looked almost like a local Hollywood doucher rock band straight out of the Sunset Strip. They look like Axl Rose and Zakk Wylde impersonators but they play a mix of neo-folk and doom? I don’t get it.
Solstafir links: website | facebook | twitter
At 10:30, Pallbearer appeared on stage and put forth a 75-minute set which was nothing short of a masterclass in doom. The tunes off of ‘Foundations Of Burden’ sounded every bit as powerful as they do on record. The guitar tone, which is the most enjoyable element of the album for me, was replicated to perfection on stage and had an even more intense effect in this great-sounding room. The Roxy’s shape, size and vibe suited the Pallbearer show excellently and one probably can’t imagine a better LA venue for this band to headline. But equally interesting was the manner in which songs off of the first album ‘Sorrow And Extinction’ came across, tonally sounding almost as if they were part of the new record and lending a sense of uniformity and flow to the set as a result. With that said, the most commendable aspect of this Pallbearer performance was the impact it had on the crowd, garnering its complete undivided attention while the music was being played. Hollywood crowds, specially on Friday nights, often tend to be loud and obnoxious, drunkenly talking over the music (last year’s Opeth show is a prime example of this), but Pallbearer can take all the credit for silencing this audience into a well-behaved gathering. Overall, it was a mesmerizing exhibition of melody-driven heavy doom by Pallbearer, and this is the best time to catch them in concert.
Related: In Conversation With Pallbearer
Pallbearer links: website | facebook | twitter | instagram
Remaining Tour Dates:
December 6 San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
December 7 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill
December 9 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater
December 10 Vancouver, VC @ Biltmore
December 11 Seattle, WA @ Barboza
December 12 Boise, ID @ The Shredder
December 13 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
December 14 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
December 16 Lawrence, KS @ The Riot Room
December 17 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock
December 18 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
December 19 St. Louis, MO @ Firebird
The Roxy links: website | facebook | twitter | instagram