Pelican was screwed after The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw. There was just no way to make such a fantastic followup to such a fantastic album. I might be alone in thinking this, but I have the feeling that other instrumetal/art-metal fans tend to agree. Or maybe they don’t, and the album that is impossible to follow up was the eerily awesome Australasia. Either way, Pelican had some big shoes to re-fill. [more]