Heartless is the third full-length album by American doom metal band Pallbearer. It was released on March 24, 2017 through Profound Lore Records.[1][2]

Heartless
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 24, 2017
GenreDoom metal
Length59:59
LabelProfound Lore
ProducerPallbearer
Pallbearer chronology
Foundations of Burden
(2014)
Heartless
(2017)
Forgotten Days
(2020)

A music video was made for the track "I Saw the End".

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic82/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
The 4059/10[4]
AllMusic     [5]
The A.V. ClubB+[6]
Consequence of SoundB+[7]
Exclaim!8/10[8]
Kerrang!KKKKK[9]
Metal Hammer     [10]
MetalSucks     [11]
Pitchfork6.0/10[12]
PopMatters          [13]

Heartless was met with critical acclaim. The album received an average score of 82/100 from 13 reviews on Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim".[3] AllMusic writer Thom Jurek praised the album for being a maturation of Pallbearer's sound, saying that it manages to not forsake the band's origins while still breaking new ground.[5] Writing for Exclaim!, Trystan MacDonald said, "Heartless continues to build on the band's reputation as one of the biggest acts in doom metal."[8] In a more lukewarm review, Pitchfork contributor Andy O'Connor wrote, "The deep cauldron of metal, prog, and doom influences have so far been a key to Pallbearer's greatness, but their third record fails to piece it all together. They have run up against their limits."[12] PopMatters writer Tanner Smith was very positive on Heartless, calling it a sign that Pallbearer will go down as one of the best metal acts of the decade.[13]

Accolades

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Year Publication Country Accolade Rank Ref.
2017 Consequence of Sound United States "Top 50 Albums of 2017" 18 [14]
2017 Decibel United States "Top 40 Albums of 2017" 3 [15]
2017 Loudwire United States "25 Best Metal Albums of 2017" 5 [16]
2017 Metal Hammer United Kingdom "100 Best Metal Albums of 2017" 13 [17]
2017 PopMatters United States "The Best Metal of 2017" 2 [18]
2017 The Quietus United Kingdom "The Best Metal Albums of 2017" 1 [19]
2017 Rolling Stone United States "20 Best Metal Albums of 2017" 6 [20]
2017 Stereogum United States "The 50 Best Albums of 2017" 25 [21]

Track listing

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All songs written and composed by Pallbearer.

No.TitleLength
1."I Saw the End"6:21
2."Thorns"5:24
3."Lie of Survival"8:25
4."Dancing in Madness"11:47
5."Cruel Road"7:13
6."Heartless"8:09
7."A Plea for Understanding"12:40
Total length:59:59
Japan exclusive bonus disc (Fear and Fury 2016 EP)
No.TitleLength
1."Fear & Fury"5:52
2."Over & Over" (Black Sabbath cover)6:08
3."Love You to Death" (Type O Negative cover)7:23
Total length:19:23

Personnel

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Pallbearer[22]
  • Brett Campbell – guitar, vocals, synthesizers
  • Mark Lierly – percussion
  • Joseph D. Rowland – bass, backing vocals, synthesizers
  • Devin Holt – guitar, backing vocals
Additional personnel
  • Jason Weinheimer – engineering
  • Zach Reeves – engineering
  • Joe Barresi – mixing
  • Dave Collins – mastering
  • Michael Lierly – artwork

Charts

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Chart (2017) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23] 89
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 98
US Billboard 200[25] 187

References

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  1. ^ Ezell, Brice (March 15, 2017). "Pallbearer - Heartless". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  2. ^ Smith, Tanner (March 22, 2017). "Pallbearer: Heartless". Pop Matters. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Metacritic entry". Metacritic. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  4. ^ Evans, Zachary (April 24, 2017). "Review: Pallbearer's titanic and melodic Heartless proves once again that they are at the forefront of the metal genre". The 405.
  5. ^ a b Jurek, Thom. "Heartless - Pallbearer". AllMusic. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  6. ^ Anthony, David (March 24, 2017). "On Heartless, Pallbearer offers up easily digested doom metal". The A.V. Club.
  7. ^ Ezell, Brice (March 16, 2017). "Pallbearer – Heartless". Consequence of Sound.
  8. ^ a b MacDonald, Trystan. "Pallbearer - Heartless". exclaim.ca. Exclaim!. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  9. ^ Thomas, Olly (March 8, 2017). "Pallbearer: Heartless". Kerrang!. No. 1661 (11 March 2017 ed.). p. 50.
  10. ^ O'Boyle, Tom (March 13, 2017). "Pallbearer - Heartless album review". Metal Hammer.
  11. ^ Snaximus (March 21, 2017). "Pallbearer Deliver a Colorful, '70s-Soaked Psychedelic Trip on Heartless". MetalSucks.
  12. ^ a b O'Connor, Andy. "Pallbearer: Heartless". pitchfork.com. Pitchfork. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  13. ^ a b Smith, Tanner. "Pallbearer: Heartless". popmatters.com. PopMatters. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  14. ^ "Top 50 Albums of 2017". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  15. ^ "Top 40 Best Metal Albums of 2017". decibelmagazine.com. Decibel. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  16. ^ "25 Best Metal Albums of 2017". loudwire.com. Metal Hammer. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  17. ^ "100 Best Metal Albums of 2017". rollingstone.com. Metal Hammer. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  18. ^ "The Best Metal of 2017". popmatters.com. PopMatters. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  19. ^ "Columnus Metallicus: The Best Metal Albums of 2017". thequietus.com. The Quietus. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  20. ^ "20 Best Metal Albums of 2017". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  21. ^ Stereogum Staff (December 5, 2017). "The 50 Best Albums of 2017". Stereogum. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  22. ^ "Heartless Discogs entry (includes liner notes)". Discogs. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  23. ^ "Ultratop.be – Pallbearer – Heartless" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  24. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Pallbearer – Heartless" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  25. ^ "Pallbearer Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 4, 2017.