Tuneful metal mavericks bring tour to the Chapel
SAN FRANCISCO -- A leading light of modern metal, adventurous doom merchants Pallbearer bring their current tour to the Chapel in San Francisco's Mission District Monday night.
Founded in 2008 by guitarist Brett Campbell and bassist/keyboardist Joseph D. Rowland while attending Central Arkansas University in Little Rock, Pallbearer came together in the wake of the duo's work in the experimental, synth-driven drone metal band Sports. After bringing second guitarist and drummer Devin Holt into the fold, the group caught the ears of labels with the self-release of a three-song demo in 2010 that showcased their monolithic style of metal.
Signing to noted metal imprint Profound Lore the following year, Pallbearer announced itself as a force on the underground ever since releasing their celebrated seismic debut Sorrow and Extinction in 2012. Weaving elements of psychedelia and progressive rock into their tuneful epics that highlight guitarist and main composer Campbell's melodic vocals, Pallbearer earned rave endorsements from such mainstream music outlets as Pitchfork, Spin and NPR.
The quartet -- rounded out by the addition of current drummer Mark Lierly after the recording of the band's debut -- has continued to push the boundaries of the genre, recording the equally acclaimed follow-up Foundations of Burden with celebrated producer (Sleep, Neurosis, Swans, Melvins) and touring with fellow metal luminaries like YOB and Tombs.
The band further refined its mix of doom, prog and psychedelia with its most accessible effort yet, 2017's Heartless. With Rowland adding more synthesizers and Campbell delivering indelible vocal melodies throughout, the album ended up on numerous "best of" lists that year. While the group would not release a follow-up until the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in the fall of 2020, Pallbearer's fourth effort Forgotten Days -- their first for new label Nuclear Blast -- once again earned the quartet universal acclaim.
For their current tour, Pallbearer is celebrating the tenth anniversary of their landmark debut Sorrow and Extinction by performing the album in its entirety along with selections from their other albums. The string of West Coast dates was slated to feature support from Northwestern doom trio Stygian Bough, a collaboration between celebrated Seattle-based duo Bell Witch and solo folk/metal doomsayer Aerial Ruin (aka guitarist Erik Moggridge, a onetime Bay Area resident and longtime member of SF metal band Old Granddad), who released their first collection of extended tunes Stygian Bough Volume 1 in the summer of 2020.
Unfortunately, personal issues have forced the two members of Bell Witch to drop out of the tour. Moggridge will be filling in with solo acoustic sets performing his Aerial Ruin material for this Monday show at the Chapel. Like-minded gothic, progressive-doom outfit Chrome Ghost -- who hail from Roseville in Placer County -- kicks off the evening. The tour makes an additional stop in Sacramento at Harlow's on Tuesday night.
Pallbearer with Aerial Ruin and Chrome Ghost
Monday, December 5, 8 p.m. $25-$28
The Chapel
Tuesday, December 6, 8 p.m. $20
Harlow's
