Celebrating a contemporary masterpiece with spirits high and hearts on our sleeves.
Text, Photographs by Diana Lungu (@rreedduuxx) at the
Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles on December 3rd, 2022:
In the words of our own Jake Sanders, Pallbearer's seminal Sorrow & Extinction can very well be considered "an ageless being of love and loss". First released by Profound Lore Records, Sorrow & Extinction set the Little Rock, Arkansas band on the upward path of artistic realization, a path that has led them to all corners of the world through tales of moving doom. On December 3rd, the band played the record in its entirety, breathing new life into the wondrous composition a decade past its inception.
Opening the night was Portland's Aerial Ruin — the acoustic solo project of Erik Moggridge. Though initially set to perform alongside Dyland Desmond and Jesse Shreibman of Bell Witch as the towering trio Stygian Bough, the band's participation fell through and Erik shifted gears towards his folk laden craft. No stranger to graceful melodies and moving instrumentation, Aerial Ruin's opening set was apt for the evening's crowd.
Aerial Ruin's new album, Loss Seeking Flame (2022), is available now and you can enjoy a photo gallery of his performance below.
With souls already at ease, Pallbearer's entrance was seamless, captivating an engaged audience in poetic fashion. The Teragram was transformed entirely, transfixed upon what Brett Campbell laid forth. Sorrow & Extinction is quite spellbinding in its studio format, and even more so via the live setting with facial expressions and a united crowd swaying and singing along to the album's noteworthy hooks.
Foreigner, An Offering Of Grief, and the closing Given To The Grave pulled on heartstrings and further cemented Pallbearer's emotional hold on listeners worldwide. The album's breathtaking allure takes new form with improvisations and on stage chemistry between Brett, Devin Holt, Mark Lierly, and Joseph D. Rowland, all of whom ripped on with passion. It's an emotional record and though we're far removed from the state of mind it found the band in at the time of its development, Pallbearer's full album playthrough served as an act of reflection that highlights the band's growth as people and as musicians. The band's brief tour run may have come to a close, but the magic of Sorrow & Extinction remains and holds true in 2022 as strong as it did back then.
Enjoy a gallery of the performance below and stay tuned for more Pallbearer in 2023.
