Review Summary: For a doom metal record, Heartless is rich with moments of joy and triumph, however its emotional impact is diluted by shallow, overpolished production and lack of variation.
Pallbearer is one of those bands that you can identify in five seconds without hearing the vocals. Warm and fuzzy guitars playing melodic Sabbathy riffs are their hallmark, but it's really that distinct guitar tone that separates them from the countless other Sabbath doom clones. Pallbearer's guitars smother you under a truckload of cotton wool and dominate this LP from the first second to the last.
The guitar sound is critical on this LP as the production makes the guitars steal the show. If you're into the classic doom metal drumming style, this is the wrong LP for you. Try something more traditional like Sorrow and Extinction instead because the drums on Heartless take a backseat. Discussing the production leads me to my main complaint of Heartless: the bass guitar is just about present but it functions more as an atmospheric device rather than a melodic one like the guitars. It's difficult to hear it play any riffs rather than gently thrum along in the background. I feel this album could have benefited from much deeper production as it sounds too middly for doom metal, which I think always needs a decent amount of space given to the low end.
Brett Campbell does his best Ozzy impression as usual but unlike Ozzy, his voice is too smooth and produced to carry emotional weight. Ozzy's voice has imperfections that makes it unique and human, Campbell's are too sterile and emotionally flat. There's also this new gang vocal effect Pallbearer has started using on Heartless that seems borrowed from Kylesa, which should have stayed with Kylesa because they are out of place on a doom metal record.
Heartless is the least depressing doom metal record I've ever heard and that's also another weakness. The album's peaks and climaxes are less impactful because they don't have any real low points in order to create a significant shift in mood or dynamics. The album plods along at walking pace and all the songs share the same mood. I don't find Heartless as emotionally engaging as the previous LPs. Take Given to the Grave from Sorrow and Extinction; that's a track that really showcases Pallbearer playing to all their strengths with its weighty riffs, aching vocals, slave-labour drums and vast dynamics all produced with such magnificent reverb. There's nothing like that on Heartless, it's flat and clean in comparison.
The first track, I Saw the End, is the real highlight of this LP, opening with an immediately memorable and catchy riff, some great vocals ("ooooh yeah!") and then . . . Tool? At 3:45 it sounds like Adam Jones snuck into the studio and Campbell switches from doing his Ozzy to doing a Maynard James Keanan impression instead. An odd moment that doesn't repeat itself but did briefly make me think they'd taken an odd turn into Lateralus territory for the whole album.
The cavernous production and achingly emotional vocals that made the first LPs so great is noticeably missing on Heartless. It's an enjoyable experience for a the first couple of listens but its shallowness doesn't reward repeated plays.
