“Mental wounds not healing,” is one of the most recognizable lyrics in the history of heavy metal, and one of its most powerful. So many of us can relate to this line, feel it in our cores, and struggle with that reality every day that living becomes surviving, and trying to find solace or enjoyment can be a fruitless effort. It’s a darkness that refuses to leave.

Over the course of a decade and a half, Pallbearer have been at the forefront of melodic, melancholic doom metal, releasing four records that have changed the shape of the sound and helped this style explode. Their fifth record “Mind Burns Alive” certainly has most of the tenets of the band’s previous albums, but there is a lot more going on here. The songs are even more immersive, the emotion deeper in a way that addresses the aforementioned mental struggles these songs share as a theme, and even delve into progressive waters deeper than ever before. The band—vocalist/guitarist/synth player Brett Campbell, guitarist/vocalist Devin Holt, bassist/synth player/vocalist Joseph D. Rowland, drummer Mark Lierly—sounds passionate and earnest as they unfurl these six gems, entering into the minefield that is mental illness and the struggle to make it through the day.

“Where the Light Fades” opens with guitars circling and gentle singing, the sounds so hushed you might be tempted to turn up the volume. Don’t, as it’s by design and plays into the soft/loud dynamic. “Maybe we could fly, but we never learned to grow our wings,” Campbell calls mournfully, synth zapping through as the pace picks up. Guitars heat as things turn moodier and darker, the emotion burning away. The title track opens burlier, doomier, with leads lathering and the singing adding texture. “My mind has been ignited, I can feel it burning down,” Campbell sings, a feeling quite familiar to any anxiety sufferers. Softer sounds float and immerse, sullen leads pulling into thornier territory, a gaze washing over and dissolving into the earth. “Signals” brings slow, softer playing, the emotion bursting over the chorus, the fog ever thickening. “Searching for a way to survive the weight of your life,” Campbell levels, dark, sorrowful melodies flooding and overwhelming.

 “Endless Place” runs 10:38, and it starts in acoustics before the playing pounds harder, Campbell noting, “So, here I am, lost in a maze.” Spacious leads surround, and then the temperatures drop, pushing deeper into a cavern as the singing soars, and a smooth sax enters, adding steamy spaciness to the atmosphere. The breeziness rouses as the playing begins to pound harder, adding glimmering notes that drive to the finish. “Daybreak” seems to embody its title at first, dawning majestically, gradually, the singing soothing before the power kicks in. Then, the heaviness settles, the leads growing and basking in deep sunshine, energy coursing through your veins before the jolts subside briefly, new bursts meeting you on the other side. “With Disease” is the 10:35-long closer, beginning with guitars trickling before punches land, leads adding heat, and the singing spreading its wings. Fiery soloing unloads as the pressure increases, coarse blasting makes your muscles ache, and that all melts into a gloomy gaze. The playing blasts back and trudges, the power hitting a crescendo before mixing into starlight.

“Mind Burns Alive,” to me anyway, is a grower. It didn’t have the instant impact previous Pallbearer records have had, but as I spent more time with it, its power, messages, and music fully enraptured, making it one of the most interesting and personal of their records so far. Perhaps some of that comes from my own mental suffering and ability to relate, and as the playing continues to reveal itself, it turns into a portrait I more closely understood, one that makes for a companion to rely on in times of darkness.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/pallbearerdoom

To buy the album, go here: https://pallbearer.bfan.link/mind-burns-alive

For more on the label, go here: https://www.nuclearblast.com/