Pallbearer/Toń/Yardburn [@Hydrozagadka, Warszaw, PL – 23/05/2025]

One could say that Pallbearer’s gig on May 23, 2025, at Warsaw’s Hydrozagadka was an absolute priority for me. For a long time now, I’ve held this band in the highest regard, especially in their live incarnation, where the sheer power of their sound takes on an incredible dimension. The main draw, however, was the first opportunity to hear material from their latest release, “Mind Burns Alive,” live. Being able to confront those studio nuances with raw, club energy was a mandatory fixture in this year’s musical calendar.

Fighting my way across Warsaw from the west bank of the Vistula took significantly longer that afternoon than I had anticipated, though I must admit that the May air—almost picnic-like in its aura—was exceptionally kind to this forced urban pilgrimage. The destination was the familiar Hydrozagadka, a club with a solidified reputation but a rather specific location in the heart of Old Praga on 11 Listopada Street. This district stubbornly maintains its grit, an almost turpistic atmosphere where historic tenements stand shoulder-to-shoulder with courtyards pulsing with a very distinct, often pathological local life. The May evening meant that on the way to the club, one passed a whole gallery of Praga „originals”—characters of peculiar appearance and local revelers—which, blended with the scent of spring, created a truly singular backdrop.

Unfortunately, Warsaw’s traffic gridlock meant I missed Yardburn’s set, which I regret, given their intriguing blend of punk, country, and alternative metal. I entered the venue just as Toń was taking over the stage. It was my first encounter with the band. The group delivered a soundscape suspended between doom/stoner metal, post-rock, and folk. I’d rate their performance as a solid warm-up that effectively primed the ground for the main course. The sound was great—selective enough to appreciate their craft—and the band was adept at building a dense, at times psychedelic atmosphere. The performance of „Las, głaz, ćma” particularly stuck with me; the track’s catchy, dynamic structure and Monika Adamska-Guzikowska’s haunting vocals resonated with great force and authenticity. Nonetheless, there were moments in their set that didn’t quite hit the mark for me—certain passages felt a bit too blurred or inconsistent in their overall impact. While I generally enjoyed the show, it didn’t feel entirely complete. Perhaps I need more time to truly „bite through” their discography.

The true musical celebration and the descent into another dimension of heaviness began when Pallbearer took the stage. It’s worth noting that this was my third time seeing them, and I’m nowhere near reaching a saturation point; quite the opposite—every live encounter with their music is pure bliss, ensuring I’ll return whenever the opportunity arises. The concert was remarkably intimate, drawing perhaps around a hundred people, which within the confines of Hydrozagadka created unique conditions for absorbing the music. With the musicians literally within arm’s reach, it felt like an exclusive, deeply personal experience. The sound that night was a dream—perfectly balanced between the crushing mass of riffs and the crystalline clarity of the melodic lines. It was pure sonic indulgence; every chord carried weight and had the space to truly breathe.

The evening opened with the monumental „Silver Wings”—a twelve-minute colossus that defined the tone of the entire set from its opening seconds, weaving a slow, tectonic tempo with intricate arrangements. The band then transitioned smoothly into newer material with „Where the Light Fades,” before circling back to „Caledonia” from Forgotten Days. Live, these tracks gained a new layer of depth, showcasing the band’s evolution toward more „song-oriented” yet still devastatingly heavy forms. A definite highlight was „The Ghost I Used to Be,” where the expressive guitars and Brett Campbell’s vocal confidence reached a magnificent peak, a reminder of the power of their earlier work. Subsequent tracks like „Signals” and the hypnotic „Given to the Grave” only served to deepen the immersion.

I was particularly floored by the mentioned earlier track of the new album, „Where the Light Fades,” which in such an intimate setting felt exceptionally raw, baring a perhaps previously unseen side of the band. We then returned to the massive riffs of „Worlds Apart,” which quite literally shook the walls of Hydrozagadka. For the encore, we were given „Thorns”—a powerful, emotional seal on the entire evening. The sheer weight of that track, coupled with their incredible precision, left me in a state of absolute fulfillment. Pallbearer proved they are a collective capable of forging melancholy and introspection into sounds of enormous mass, without ever losing their musical nobility. It was a brilliant performance in every respect—the very definition of what modern, even progressive doom metal should look like in its most profound form.