4 out of 5

Label: Hydra Head

Producer: Andrew Schneider

This was the game changer for Pelican.  The more ‘song’ based approach that would crop up on their Southern Lord releases began here, the band’s wave goodbye to traditional chugga-chugga slow-core and bridging the gap to mad metal insanity.

Rocketed to relative fame with ‘Australasia,’ the instrumental metal scene seemed to expand (or existing bands starting getting their due), various groups specializing in thrashier, or prettier, or whatever.  And Pelican put out ‘The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw’ and some people were calling foul.  As the scene widened, opinions were nabbed from Spin and it was easy to say that some of the group’s tricks were growing stale – predictable guitar lines, steady drumming.  I mean, whatever, ’cause I loved ‘Fire’ and I like me some chugga-chugga, but we’re apt to criticize inbetween sessions of staring at the wall and texting our gchats.  The pitch black cover of Pelican’s debut EP vs. the bright orange of ‘Australasia’ was a significant ‘blossoming;’ the similarly muted colors of both ‘Echoes’ and ‘Fire’s album art – and the first track’s initial ferocity – might make one assume that they’re in for more of the same.  Sure, the guitars aren’t just scaling each other but instead playing off of one another, and the drums are a bit more lively, but I bet right around the corner…  …Is a nasty as hell double bass drum attack.  Between opener ‘Bliss in Concrete’ and the title track, PLCN knocks aside any and every expectation.  I had no doubt they were wizards in their relative instrumental departments (something I think is clearer after seeing them groove together live), but when you’re expecting some more marching riffing and the songs just kick your ass with fretboard madness and breathless drumming, it’s jaw-dropping and effing satisfying.  Especially when the group combines things – dropping that Pelican chugga-chugga (yes, we’re going to say that until I can think of another way to say it) on top of the frenzy.

Something I felt the band did better on ‘Fire’ than ‘Australasia’ was in linking things together, making it feel like a true album.  The same is initially true of ‘City,’ the blast of noise giving way to ‘Spaceship Broken – Parts Needed,’ which starts with such a pleasant, thoughtful tune that it automatically lightens the headbanging mood a bit – properly, giving a nice rest – before the 6-minute track develops into a rocker on its own terms.  That is – something more in like a Touch and Go vibe than anything on Hydra Head – and then probably one of the best acoustic tracks the group has worked on – ‘Winds With Hands’ – as it’s fully composed and not just a segue or piece of something grander.  But, even though ‘Dead Between the Walls,’ the following track, is magnificient and brash, the jarring lead-in following ‘Winds’ doesn’t quite click, and the album’s remaining 4-5 minute tracks are all begging for at least one more 7+ minute build-up.

Even though the magic of the album’s first half fades into a song-by-song event, ‘City of Echoes’ is proof of the group’s growth and longevity, a now-historical note that proves how they’ve been able to soldier on as a new beast in 2013/2014 post a founding member leaving.  There was always an interest in finding how to stretch their sound to encompass more – but it was hard to imagine something as direct as this disc before its release.