PELICAN

We are introduced to the Chicago based Post metal band named Pelican through this four song, self titled EP in 2003, this marks the beginning of one of the most influential, and not to mention one of my personal favorite bands in post rock/metal history. Since this EP, the group has released three albums, and two other EP's, but on this one, you hear Pelican, stripped down to the very core of their music, the basics of what makes this band more unique and one of the most successful of the genre.

We start with Pulse, one of the bands most beautiful songs to date. just a repeating, soothing chord progression, that's builds into a very triumphant march, that perfectly compliments itself as the first song on the EP. This song is on a major scale, and basically repeats the same chords over and over, and when you think about it, that's what this band is all about; repetition. They play riffs or chords over and over again, until you pull out every possible thing you can get out of it, then starts a new round to get you going again. Don't let this song fool you though, The rest of the songs are much darker, and draw heavily on the bands doom metal influences which have almost disappeared in some of their most recent work. The EP progresses from simple chord progression, and marching beats, to incredibly heavy riffing, and spastic loose-y drumming that Bryan Herweg is loved (and sometimes hated) for. After many listens, what sounds like a bunch of disorganized and repetitive songs, turns into a marvel of new idea's, and originality that so few bands can capture nowadays.

The musicianship isn't where you would expect it to be, especially when you compare it to some of their more tight, and polished works such as City of echoes, or the March into the sea EP. The riffs are much more basic, the beats very simple, and even the bass doesn't seem as limber as it does, but like I said, everything comes together. The two messy sounding guitars, overloaded with distortion throughout the entire thirty minutes compliment each other so well, and the bass just over comes you with a brutal heaviness that you can feel inside your chest. While I don't feel this album is as cohesive, or (for lack of better words) as addicting as any of the other albums by this group, I wont give it four stars. I just wish I got this first rather than start from their most recent then work my way down, because I feel like I was confused about this band for way to long until I listened to the fire in our throats enough to finally get this group, while listening to this EP may have saved me a lot of time and confusion.

3 stars for this very important EP.