LIVE REVIEW: Pallbearer @ The Fleece, Bristol

The Fleece in Bristol is one of the city’s most beloved and legendary venues. So many bands have cut their teeth over the years between those walls and the acts that have gone on to become household names are proudly displayed atop the bar, from MUSE to Amy WinehouseE. To play here and put on an impressive night of music is a near rite of passage for anyone wanting to make it big, and it’s the first attempt for tonight’s headliners PALLBEARER having opened for YOB at the same venue previously.

Opening this evening are GODTHRYMM, the new band from ex-MY DYING BRIDE and VALLENFYRE axeman Hamish Glencross. Time will tell if he is to reap the same recognition and success as his former outfits, but given that the trio sound like the doom metal equivalent of a thousand anvils being dropped onto your head, he’s already well on the way. It’s a massive noise emitted from the stage tonight, reverberating quite wonderfully around the venue and We Are the Dead shakes the ground enough to raise the departed themselves. The sprawling A Grand Reclamation has a lovely false finish in the middle to befuddle and bemuse – bonus points for being the set closer as well – and Until The Rapture’s End stands on its own two feet just as nicely. Considering there’s only one EP to their name so far, the future’s looking bright for GODTHRYMM.

Rating: 7/10

Is there anything worse than technical issues? It’s never a nice thing for a band to experience them, especially before they’ve played a note, but PALLBEARER more than make up for it once mic packs are sorted and frequencies fixed. From the moment that Watcher in the Dark begins its slow, methodical build up to the crushing riffs and soundscapes we all know and love, The Fleece falls under the spell of one of the greatest bands to have broken through in the last few years, and one that will get even bigger. New single Drop Out sounds even more massive live and Dancing With Madness is the absolute highlight of a rousing set that takes everyone inside to another plane of reality completely. The charisma of bassist Joe Rowland adds extra gravity, his gurns and grimaces somehow making things even heavier again as PALLBEARER bulldoze their way through Thorns and Foreigner, the latter of which has the walls physically shaking with the sheer volume pumped out of the speakers. GODTHRYMM‘s Hamish Glencross joins the band onstage for the last two songs, namely Given to the Grave and Devoid of Redemption, and the third guitar add an extra layer that is appreciated by all who are present. It might only be an eight song set, but the journey that PALLBEARER take you on in that time is something that needs to be experienced in the flesh to be truly understood, and if they’re on this sort of form at Bloodstock Festival in a couple of weeks, there might not be a band playing that weekend who’ll top them.

Rating: 9/10

Check out our photo gallery from the night’s action in Bristol from Normandy Photography here: