Pelican Album: “Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw”

From thundering avalanches of sound to soft, glistening melodies, Pelican's 'The fire in our throats will beckon the thaw' is a perfect, and very dynamic album.

Sure this is not as 'heavy' as previous releases.. but heavy is definately not what Pelican is all about. Pelican is about soundscapes.. and the soundscape painted with this release is a of grandoise scale. It seems to capture the ocean-like swelling sounds of newer Isis, but is less repetative and more entertaining.. even without vocals. Yes the repetition is still there, (as always will be with 'soundscapes') but there is more 'variety' to the repetition if you will. I know that doesnt make a whole lot of sense, but you have to listen to this masterpeice in order to understand. This is not only a very atmospheric piece, but it is also very cleverly crafted in the sense that nothing sounds out of place, overdone or overly accented.

An entrancing journey to say the least.

Don't think of Pelican as being an experimental/post hardcore, hard rock, or progressive metal four piece from Chicago. Think of them as being an uncolored photograph surrounded by bright paintings.

Pelican use guitars, bass, and drums, so they are, essentially, like most every other rock band. Except they're missing one thing: a singer (who brings color to the music). And, even though the lack of color won't grab your attention right away and may even bore some fans continuously, there are many advantages to being a colorless picture. This way, you can focus on the art itself, be mesmerized by its subtleties, and not be distracted by the loud, sometimes dominating and overbearing colors. And it's not like this group's second release, "The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw," is monochomatic by any means. On the contrary, the guitars, drums, and bass make the music come to life and almost leap off of the page (and out of your headphones). Plus, the use of acoustic guitars gives this album some needed texture, contrast, and splashes of light.

"The Fire..." certainly doesn't skimp on riffs, as most of these songs are at least partially heavy. These parts of the songs usually echo Burst or Mastodon; but there are just as many melodic and Isis-esque atmospheric moments to offset them. Furthermore, many of these songs are a little of each, since they start out slowly and build to a heavy crescendo.

"Last Day of Winter" begins this album with the sound of serene guitar feedback backed by a crashing, reverberating drum beat. From there, the song becomes increasingly noisy before fading out and eventually becoming occupied by pretty acoustic guitar plucking. "Autumn Into Summer" is similar to the track previous to it. It begins with light, dwindling strings and slow drumming, but it gradually becomes faster and climaxes with crunchy, churning riffs.

At eleven and a half minutes long, "March to the Sea" is one of the lengthiest track on this record. It's mostly one speed, and its lumbering power chords and thumping drums also make it the hardest song. But, conversely, the very next track, "Red Ran Amber," which has two squeaky clean acoustic guitars, is one of the prettiest and most docile tunes you'll find on here.

Next, "Aurora Borealis" features a few more semi-heavy guitar hooks which transition into a wall of ear-drum piercing guitar feedback, and the song ends by segueing into a dreamy string arrangement.

Song number six, "Sirius," is mainly a very low key and spacey number, due to its beautifully ambient acoustic strums. Lastly, the seventh track (a hidden track), continues in the same vein as the song that came before it, until about two minutes in (when the punching electric guitars storm back onto the scene and close out the album.

"The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw" isn't for everybody. Even though it goes up and down in volume, it definitely does not follow the traditional verse-chorus-verse song structures. Plus, most of these songs will seem a bit anti-climatic at first. If you don't like either of these things, or if you think you'll be frustrated without a vocalist, this disc is not for you. But if you're willing to expand your horizons, listen to this album more than once, and try something unconventional and innovative, don't be surprised by the surprisingly rewarding results "The Fire..." gives you.

Even I can't help but wonder what Pelican might sound like with a singer; but, all in all, this band needs a frontman about as much as a painter needs a piece of chalk.

I recently discovered post-metal, and having listened to quite a bit of it I can say that this is a classic of the genre. THE FIRE IN OUR THROATS WILL BECKON THE THAW, released in 2005, sounds like Godspeed You! Black Emperor with metal riffing. It's 58'46 of cinematic, mainly tragic-sounding, instrumental rock. Overwhelmngly electric, there are some effective acoustic guitar passages that add texture.

Pelican's particular blend on this album clearly reflects GY!BE in the length and serious tone of the "songs," but without the Steve Reich/minimalist repetition. Another important influence is psychedelia -- Track 6, "Aurora Borealis," sounds like it could be from Amon Duul II's

, which is an excellent thing, by the way. TFIOTWBTD made excellent listening on an hour-plus commute before dawn in the Fall of 2011.

At this point Pelican, based in Chicago, was still on Hydra Head, the L.A.-based label run by Aaron Turner of Isis. Turner designed the album art, which depicts a world in the process of melting, even including little molecules of CO2. Global warming/climate change seems to be the apocalyptic setting for Pelican's music, and that sense of impending doom is stronger here than on any of their other albums. The title seems to cryptically reference this as well, "fire" bringing a "thaw," though exactly what "throats" have to do with it is not clear.

THE FIRE IN OUR THROATS is an essential post-metal recording.

I like to dream. Many people do. Dreaming, asleep or awake, is an opportunity to explore the imagination. And such exploration can leave one with a newer sense of their world and their own place in that world. It can leave one exalted or humbled, sometimes all at once.

Pelican creatively drives home a sense of dreams of sound on this album. It's like a walk through a rainbow from one end to the other. The color experience is like nothing you could ever imagine on your own without the effort to see it (or hear it) for yourself. This album is quite simply amazing.

I recommend that you purchase this gem of an album from Pelican. You know, I don't really know how to explain music in really technical fashion like some listeners can. But, I know a great musical experience when I hear it, and this certainly is a nice walk through the sound of dreams. It is breathlessly gentle and passionately compelling. Pelican has really created an undeniable classic here.

Pick it up. If you are at all interested in this kind of music then you won't regret owning this album.

The wait is finally over and it is so worth it! As I write this, I just got goosebumps for the 10th time listening to the album. This is an amazing album from a band of musical wizards. Whoever thinks that music can't be dark and light, heavy and uplifting all at once has never heard the magic of Pelican. Their music has become a soundtrack to my life. I work to it, I run to it, I exercise to it, and, on those rare moments that life allows, I just sit in stunned bliss and let it wash over me. From the EP to the new album, Pelican is original and unafraid to experiment (I mean, come on, they played a saw on the last album). As a musician, they are pure inspiration to me. I can not wait to see them live on this tour. If they come to your town (or any where in a 100 mile radius) go check them out. One of the guitarists in the band, Laurent Lebec, has said that "Pelican is a F@#$in triumphant band". I say AMEN to that, brother. So get your fingers moving and order this earth-moving album