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What the heck is this. Be warned: Pelican is not like
any other progressive metal band you have heard, I promise
you. I have read things about this band for some time now,
and listened to samples from time to time - and finally curiosity
got the best of me and I bought this album. It may take me
quite a while to fully make up my mind, but in the meantime
I will attempt to describe this interesting band.
Pelican are a standard seeming 4 piece with keyboards
being noticeably absent. I am sure the band doesn't like being
called prog-metal, and indeed, I think progheads were late
in noticing this band before the standard metalhead crowd.
I had heard phrases like "massive sound", "epic", and "subtle
intricacies" when reading reviews. You will also notice longer
song times, and by the way - no vocals.
So - what do we have here? In my opinion, these guys
sound like a wall of sound with one guitar making a massive
crunching riff and the other doing subtle things in the background
that you will notice upon repeated listens. No repetition
in the verse/chorus sense, but each part will repeat for at
least 2 minutes before shifting to another dynamic. Very downtuned
guitars are followed by a softer part with interlocking guitar
melodies. The bass sound is also noticeable throughout, unlike
many metal bands nowadays. Also - the drummer is a monster
- very loud on his kit. The whole thing has a rather unpolished
feel that lends a certain rawness to the music. In the longer
songs, the band will move through several different sections
- sometimes getting very heavy indeed (in a doom metal sense
- not death metal). Occasionally they switch to an acoustic
sound which is welcome after a crunching assault.
These guys focus on mood and feeling and slow building
riffs that erupt like their influences (Isis, Neurosis, etc).
As a result - they are certainly not for everyone, and the
reason I took so long to take to it was that it just seemed...
boring.... to me. It is true that after repeated listens you
begin to crave the oceanic massiveness that washes over you
- but you have to be in the right mood and have patience.
Do not expect a lot of intricacy as this is not the band's
goal. Simply listening to a sample online will not tell you
adequately what this band sounds like unless you can access
a whole long track somewhere. So do I like it? Yes, I think.
Do I love it? I don't know for sure! I keep putting the cd
in, however - and that is usually the sign of an album that
will eventually grow on me. As a matter of fact - I'm off
to listen again. I think I will also be picking up their other
studio release, Australasia.
Rating: 3 stars (for now...may grow to 4)
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