Pelican - What We All Come to Need
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For many, Pelican have much to answer for. Their career thus far has been haphazard. For every great doom-laden slab like the self-titled EP or Australasia, there are messy, wankish post-rock releases like City of Echoes and the Pink Mammoth EP. A label switch to Southern Lord didn’t raise hopes for a change in direction.
Perhaps the threat of excellent albums released by instru-metal peers Russian Circles (reviewed here) and Red Sparowes lit a fire under Pelican’s collective ass, because What We All Come to Need is their best release in the last four years. That delicate balance between metal and post-whatever is tricky to find, never mind maintain, and this band has made a big step in that direction.
Song cohesion plays a major part in this improvement. “The Creeper” starts with a fairly simple, sludgy riff and stays focused, building on the melody for the next seven minutes without meandering off into the space-rock forest. The title track assembles melodic layers in a similar fashion, yet gives guitarists Laurent Lebec and Trevor de Brauw room to explore. This focus and emphasis on restrained repetition results in the heavy parts staying heavy.
That’s not to say Pelican are ditching their shoegaze elements; the midsection on “Specks of Light” would feel at home on a Swervedriver track. “Final Breath” features vocals(!) from The Life And Times/Shiner frontman Allen Epley, whose airy harmonic delivery recalls My Bloody Valentine and Jarboe.
I was expecting another letdown but was pleasantly surprised with this album. Here’s to hoping Pelican can maintain the balance they’ve found and find new ways to expand on it.
Buy:
Amazon (CD)
Amazon (MP3)
Relapse (CD, shirt)
Southern Lord (CD/DVD, shirt)
Blue Collar Distro (CD, shirt, hoodie)
You can stream this album in full here.
