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Pelican

Pelican (2003)
Hydra Head Records

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Contributed by: FortyMinutesWest
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Published on May 20th 2003

Hydra Head, the label that's give us releases from the likes of Discordance Axis, Cave In, and Harkonen now brings us this EP from Chicago's Pelican. Pelican is an instrumental act that thrives on repetition, using it to build an atmosphere.

The way I look at it, being an instrumental band has both it's freedoms and it's drawbacks. You have the freedom to write songs without worrying about how the vocals are going to fit into the mix. However, instrumental bands also face a challenge, since many times the vocals are what make music so memorable. Pelican's use of repetition really does the trick, in terms of making these songs memorable and catchy. The music here varies from distorted rock sounding riffs, to grinding, almost doom metal passages. There is technicality here, but it doesn't immediately jump out at you. So as you listen and try to pick out the subtleties of these songs, the music completely encompasses you. Pelican's talent lies within their ability to capture the listeners attention for long periods of time. I must admit, when I set out to listen to this band for the first time, the thought of an almost 13 minute instrumental song made me groan. But with their ability to reduce the listener to nearly a trance-like state, Pelican made good use of every last second.

If you're a fan of bands like Godflesh, Neurosis, Lungfish, or Mastodon you might want to give this band a shot. The people at Hydra Head seem to be really high on this band, and now I know why.

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Anonymous (June 19, 2005)

Way to scan the art work on it's side. (it should be rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise.)

Anonymous (March 3, 2005)

can you wake up from that primordial snooze of music critic review and be truthful...only bullshit disc jockey music needs a lyrical hook! to feel music is to be music Im so glad you wont be on the GRAVY TRAIN known as Pelican. Look at the Pelican fly! Ive never been a fan of first-rate hatchet jobs but please continue your discord into the oblivionn know as pop bullshit!!! ALL PRAISE TO THE MONKEYS AT THE CORPORATIONS THAT MAKE THE MONKEY WHEEL TURN!!!!

Anonymous (February 11, 2005)

pelcan have the ability to keep on going and still draw you in to it - awesome band, needs more recognition!!

Anonymous (September 23, 2003)

when is their full length album out. i'm looking forward to it

geetarchick (May 21, 2003)

man pelican is darn good. but isis is better.

Anonymous (May 21, 2003)

wowsers, this is the last band id expect to see a review for on this site. i appreciate the diversity however.

this cd is damn good, but it is no OCEANIC. nothing is...