Just released as a limited-edition gatefold double Lp by 20 Buck Spin, and also back in stock on CD via Profound Lore...

A lot of ears were turned on to the Alabama-based doom metal band Pallbearer back in 2010 when the band released their demo, a three-song dose of epic doom that included a cover of "Szomorú Vasárnap" ("Gloomy Sunday") by Hungarian composer Rezső Seress. That demo had people comparing Pallbearer to such titans of epic doom as Candlemass and Warning, and the praise was well-deserved; Pallbearer were capable of crafting immensely heavy music with catchy, moving hooks and amazing vocal melodies and displayed incredible songwriting chops. Everyone who loved that demo had been anxiously awaiting their first album, and Sorrow And Extinction lived up to all of the expectations and then some, appearing earlier this year on Profound Lore and delivering one of the best doom metal experiences in recent memory.

When the album opens, we are greeted by softly strummed acoustic guitar that creaks and scrapes beneath the fingers of the player, a sorrowful and fragile melody that feels almost funereal even as a bluesy twang enters into it, but when the full band finally drops in after a few minutes, you're blown back by the force of their majestic slow-mo metal. That first song "Foreigner" sets up the feel of the rest of the album, presenting a traditional doom metal sound with a unique melodic style that'll stick these songs in your skull for a quite awhile. The likes of Candlemass, Warning and Solitude Aeturnus are clearly an influence on Pallbearer's brand of doom, but the vocal melodies and hooks sound totally unique in the hands of frontman Brett Campbell, whose voice is a perfect mix of soulful emotion and dourness, drifting over Pallbearer's tectonic metal using multi-part harmonies to add a powerful, almost anthemic feel to their choruses. There's a couple of spots on that first song where they sound like a doom-metal version of a Kansas song, and it's pretty goddamn fantastic. No slouching on the heaviness, either; the riffs on this album are armored in lead, massive molten Sabbathian hooks crushing everything underfoot, with just the right amount of "swing" without taking anything away from the mournful, terminally downcast vibe of their music.

These guys are continuously compared to Yob due to the distinctive vocals and the sheer skull-caving heaviness, but Pallbearer sounds much more "classical" than their label-mates, infecting their old-school approach with slight hints of progressive rock and funereal psychedelia to produce what might be the doom album of 2012. Highly recommended!