Live: YOB, Pallbearer and Buried Sleeper

Photos: Alan Swan |

Support: Pallbearer | website

Audio, Glasgow | September 6, 2014

Apparently there is such a thing as World Beard Day, which is on September 6th. How silly this may sound (and yes it is silly and the most hipster thing I can think of right now), it does seem kind of fitting when you’re going to see YOB and Pallbearer, both doom metal powerhouses with members who enjoy a bit of facial hair growth, or attract a big crowd of men with beards in all sort of shapes and sizes. And yes, there was a big crowd, as tonight’s gig at Audio in Glasgow was sold out, which was a first for Black Reach Promotions, which was great news, but unfortunately made it a slight struggle to reach the bar and grab a can of favourite brew. Not that this mattered too much really as tonight was all about the mighty doom.

This started with local doomsters Buried Sleeper, who arguably played their biggest gig to date. YOB’s Mike Scheidt actually requested Buried Sleeper to open the show, which is a huge honour if you ask me! I’ve seen them a couple of times now and each time they get better and better, but at this gig they absolutely outclassed themselves. Everything was spot on, from the huge sound to the crowd giving the band a great response. They really played a very solid set. Guitarist Harry Clapham, with the biggest beard in the house, was banging like crazy while throwing heavy riff after riff into the crowd. Guitarist/vocalist Bryce Sutherland was visibly having a great time and his riffing was loud and his vocals were very clear this time, which makes it such an awesome band to listen to when that happens. Tommy Wigman’s bass was solid, while Dom Hardy drums were tight as always. They played three songs, starting with ‘Doem Kraai’ of their album Colosseum, followed by two new tracks ‘Falling Man’ and ‘Pangaea’. These new songs demonstrate the talent this band has and I can’t wait for a new release, which they hopefully start working on soon.

Buried Sleeper

Next up was the mighty Pallbearer, which was a much-anticipated gig as their last album Foundations of Burden is one of the most talked about albums of the year. Unfortunately their set didn’t start as smooth as they would have wanted to, with guitarist/vocalist Brett Campbell’s amp having some serious issues. Brett was clearly not pleased, but hey, shit happens. I don’t think anyone in the crowd really cared about this as the rest of the band stepped in to still play an awesome version of album opener ‘Worlds Apart’. With the help of Mike the amp problem got soon sorted for Pallbearer to continue a great set focusing much on songs of Foundations of Burden, like ‘Foundations’, ’Watcher in the Dark’. They also played the amazing opening track of their first album Sorrow and Extinction, ‘Foreigner’, which resulted in a huge crowd response. Watching bassist Joseph D. Rowland play was great to witness, he was banging his head like crazy while playing solidly; he was giving it everything. Pallbearer might have had some technical issues in the beginning of the set, but they sure finished on a huge high. It was great to see this band live and it really makes me appreciate Foundations of Burden a lot more than I already did.

Pallbearer

Finally the legends of doom YOB were ready to get on stage to mash our brains into tiny pieces. After Mike did a couple of short stretches they started their long set with ‘Ball of Molted Lead’ of the album The Illusion of Motion, providing us with a huge 10 minutes opener. At some point during the song I witnessed another first, namely a circle pit at a doom gig. Not only that, a huge amount of people were going nuts throughout YOB’s set, moshing, crowd surfing and stage diving. It was a great spectacle to witness. Mike on guitar and Aaron Rieseberg on bass are complete masters on stage, absolutely owing it, banging long hairs in the heavy instrumental bits and being the most dynamic I’ve ever seen a doom band before.

YOB

They continued their set with the first half of the latest album Clearing the Path to Ascend, ‘In Our Blood’ and ‘Nothing to Win’, followed by ‘The Lie That is Sin’, taken of album The Great Cessation. They finished their set with the fantastic song ‘Marrow’, again of Clearing the Path to Ascend. When Mike announced this was going to be the last song the crowd responded with sadness, to which Mike replied “Don’t worry, it’s a long one”, and he was right. Luckily they quickly came back to play one more song, which was ‘Quantum Mystic’ of album The Unreal Never Lived, which must be a fan favourite based on the crowd response.

YOB came to Glasgow and crushed everything in its way. As far as doom gigs go, this was a very successful night and I don’t think anyone had anything bad to say about it. Someone also filmed the whole of YOB’s set, which you can watch below. I feel sorry for the people who missed this gig as I would do it again if I ever get the chance again!

(More pictures below the YouTube video)