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MARCH INTO THE SEA

Pelican

Experimental/Post Metal


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Pelican March Into The Sea album cover
4.21 | 31 ratings | 7 reviews | 39% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

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Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, released in 2005

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. March into the Sea (20:28)
2. Angel Tears (12:22)

Total Time: 32:50

Line-up / Musicians

- Trevor de Brauw / guitars
- Laurent Lebec / guitars
- Larry Herweg / bass
- Bryan Herweg / drums

Releases information

CD Hydra Head 6684 (2005)

Thanks to TheProgtologist for the addition
and to ProgLucky for the last updates
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PELICAN March Into The Sea ratings distribution


4.21
(31 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(39%)
39%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(45%)
45%
Good, but non-essential (10%)
10%
Collectors/fans only (3%)
3%
Poor. Only for completionists (3%)
3%

PELICAN March Into The Sea reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by TheProgtologist
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
4 stars This EP,released in 2005,just prior to the release of their album The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw,contains only two songs,the epic 20+ minute title track(which would appear in a slightly different form on their 2nd full length studio album),and a remix of Australasia's Angel Tears.The guitar duo of Laurent Lebec and Trevor de Brauw set the foundation of the first track with their complementary styles - one lays down thick and sludgy guitar riffs while the other weaves intricate melodies throughout. One evident difference from Australasia is that the overall movement of the song is much more upbeat, that is to say it moves much more quickly. As the song unravels, you can make out slight changes in the song structure; movements of jam-oriented rock even begin to surface at times. The transition between segments is done with the utmost perfection, quite a feat when you're moving from stoner-metal infused with Larry Herweg's double-bass to simplistic post-rock passages. It is in these more basic movements that we are given the chance to see the true talent and musicianship of these band members. In particular, I was really glad that you actually make out the bass playing of Bryan Herweg. In most bands of this genre, the bass is buried somewhere deep in the background. But throughout "March into the Sea" you can always hear him driving the song along towards its end. It is in a fury of pounding drums and heavily distorted guitars that we come to the song's conclusion, or so we are led to believe. After the deception of a false ending, things get particularly interesting. Pelican take things in a different direction in their use of primitive instrumentation. Here the band engages in the use of acoustic guitars and compliments their sound with very faint piano and slight electronic noises humming in the background. This beautifully constructed portion of the song gets even better as a very subtle flute solo, of all things, enters the equation - Jethro Tull eat your heart out. Following this highly unexpected yet tasteful incorporation of the flute, the song dwindles as the acoustic guitars and piano fades out until we are left with a long holding tone of the background noises with just a pinch of feedback.

For the second track on this EP, we are treated to Justin Broadrick's remix of "Angel Tears." Broadrick tinkers with things and what comes out is something not unlike what we've heard on the Jesu full-length. The core of the song is still there, but over the bombastic drumming and guitars Broadrick has added a significant amount of swirling noise effects and synth sounds that give the piece this indescribable aura. Toward the latter half of his reinterpretation, he's added in programmed beats and an array of effects. These blend perfectly with the material he's used from the original composition, giving it such a great feel and sense of character. Whether he is creating his own music or remixing others', there is little this man can do wrong.

It's rather difficult to find a flaw in something as brilliant as this EP. One might be inclined to complain that it is "just an EP." However, I've heard full-lengths that weren't as long as this, so that argument is dead in the water. March into the Sea is a stunning display of Pelican's musicianship and demonstrates that they're going to continue to shed the label of being nothing more than an Isis clone.4 stars and an excellent addition to your prog metal collection.

Review by Prog-jester
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars Wow. This one is excellent! "March..." is twice longer than LP version, with strings and piano added, and "Angel Tears" is wonderfully dark and depressing track. Fans of Stoner Rock, Post-Rock and Doom-Metal will definetely love this EP. Both tracks may seem too repetitive, monotonous and undeveloping to an ordinary Progfan, but that's what I like in them! Awesome hypnotiizing trip, very psychedelic and ethereal atmosphere and these HEAVY riffs trampling your down! As a some kind of a torture machine, PELICAN smashes you with every minute your enjoy thier music...don't call me a Mazo, I simply love that kind of music!

Extremely recommended !!!

Review by Finnforest
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars A perfect title.

"March Into the Sea" starts with the nastiest guitar sound this side of hell's worst neighborhood. A pretty good chug ensues (or would that be a march?) as the guys get things warmed up. Somewhere around the 3 ½ minute mark there is slight time shift and from it creeps another guitar sound, this one exploring some light leads over the fray. The drumming and bass are monster heavy and thick. Near 8 minutes the main wall of noise falls away leaving a naked minimal drumbeat pounding with heavy cymbal smashing. Then comes back the lighter lead guitar to paint some nice textures reminding me of a really heavy version of Durutti Column. It's great but that cymbal overkill kinds of distracts from the beauty of the guitar for me in this section. Things build again to an insane pace until 12 minutes when the storm falls silent again save for a cool guitar effect that sounds more like keys, over which an acoustic guitar begins to strum. A very cool ambient section begins to flourish with flutes and strange background sounds that confuse me: they don't credit any keys that I can see but it sure sound like more than guitars there. Whatever it is, it's pretty cool. The rest of the track continues with this droning, trance-like state that is 180 degrees from the first half of the song's aural assault. The second song is called "Angel Tears-JK Broadrick remix." We begin with a rather slow pace and again very heavy, with an absolute hellish thick mess of guitar maelstrom riding atop the bass and other effects. Around 8 minutes there is some tortured electronic pops and buzzes thrown in for good measure. This one is decent but not quite as good as the title track.

The music on "March" has less diversity in sound and fewer treats than some others I've heard lately. No cellos or soft female vocals like Squid, no leads as tasty as Morningside, no violins like Indukti, no anything-goes method of Toby Driver. This music is more of a consistent "Sea" of guitar distortions and beats, and while there certainly are sound textures being painted throughout, they are more subtle and not as obvious as a violin or vocal would be. Nothing wrong with that, I'm just trying to describe the distinction for those wondering what this sounds like overall. The title couldn't be more apt, this music is a 30 minute march into the sea. The heaviness is like the weight of the ocean on your back-even the mellower sections "feel" heavy. The artwork inside and out depicting sky and sea fits the moods perfectly. Easily recommended to fans of the genre and anyone seeking a good sonic arsekicking

Review by Petrovsk Mizinski
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars This is Pelican's second EP, which contains two songs, and was released only a month before the album The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw. The title track is a 20 minute+ epic, while the second track is a Justin Broadrick remix of Angel Tears, a song that was featured on their album Australasia.

March Into The Sea begins with a dirty. sludgy guitar riff, something that really captured my interest straight away I have to admit, because I was so eager to see where it would go from there. At 0:26, the whole band of Trevor de Brauw and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec on guitars and the brotherly duo of Bryan and Larry Herweg on bass guitar and drums respectively all kick in on the mix, and it has an big impact. An immense crushing wall of sound results, which to me sounds like the difficulty of marching into a story sea. Fortunately, with all that dense textural guitar going on, there is still a noticeable bass sound courtesy of Bryan, so kudos to him being heard in the mix. The onslaught of sludge keeps pounding you, while the other guitar contrasts this and provides intricate melodies. At around 3:17, the band begins to ease off a little, and we get a major key feel, which is very effective at easing off the tension which can be more obviously felt when the Larry's drumming becomes a little less prominent. Around 5:30, there is another highly noticeable shift in what is a song that already has plenty of movement. The riffage at 5:41 always really captured my interest for some reason, just something about the way the Trevor and Laurent seamlessly blend two dark parts together to make something more evil sounding than the sum of its parts. We even see the band incorporate an odd time signature to add interest, and to keep the tension up. Larry's addition of double bass drumming around this makes the song even more immense and that is definitely impressive given how crushing this song already showed us up to this point. The band shows a sign of easing up just before the 7 minute mark and not long after we have some very touching quieter melodic moments from Laurent and Trevor, with Larry suitable more restrained for this moment too. For a little while the bass guitar is not very audible, leaving a lot of room for the guitar parts to shine, but have no fear, as Bryan kicks in once again as things get moving along. After this section, the band goes into a crescendo along with Bryan coming back into the mix more noticeably, and by about 10:30, the band is back to roaring and pounding and images of a final struggle to march into an incredible stormy sea are evoked. The song goes into quiet mode, with sounds like keys, although there is no one credited with keys, so that may cause some confusion for some. Acoustic guitar strumming goes along with the ambient and incredibly hypnotic feel of the rest of the song. More of what sounds like other keyboard parts, and flute parts too which was definitely a pleasant surprise. Somehow, the band managed to make this section not make it feel excessively long, but instead flowing and natural. I really get the sense of rest and peacefulness in this section. A perfect song, with so many different emotions and images to be evoked in your imagination.

Next up is Justin Broadrick's remix of Angel Tears. Having really enjoyed the original song, I was hoping for something good here too. I have to say, I liked this remix even more than I expected. Broadrick masterfully gives it a very atmospheric feel to it. He puts in additional noises and programmed beats and gets the arrangement and takes it somewhere else, but never do I feel like it's anything but Angel Tears, just a reinterpretation of the song. This is not an easy thing to do, but it was done here, to amazing effect. Kudos to Justin's work on this remix and making it as uplifting and emotional as one might hope.

I honestly cannot find any real flaws in this EP, and given it's a very good length for an EP, just makes it even more appealing. The title track is epic, in sound and length, is very tightly written and displays fantastic post metal musicianship and ideas. This is a definitely one for every post metal fan out there.

Review by colorofmoney91
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars So, after four or however many years I've been on the PA, I've finally decided to start doing reviews. I'll start with what I'm currently blowing into my face through my speakers.

I really despise a lot of "post-" things because of the minimalistic dreariness, but I've always been semi-partial to Pelican, because I've always been partial to heavier, sludgier types of music, which is exactly what Pelican is giving us here: heavy, sludgy... but wait, there's more.

"March Into the Sea" starts of with awesome heaviness, and actually one of the best heavy riffs I've heard in quite some time. The initial riff really trudges along, leading my imagination to create a scene of men with heavy, tired feet marching on into a stormy sea. Soon, the rest of the band will join in on the fun, and I especially love the sharp guitar in the mix that pulls against the previously stated heavy riffing. And from there it continues in its heaviness for several minutes, and then ventures into the post-metallic. Beautiful guitar interplay coupled with powerful drumming and driving bass. This goes on for a few minutes, until double-bass drums start pounding your face back into your cerebellum, seemingly from out of nowhere. After said beating, the drums go solo except for a few ambient guitar notes. Guitar comes in more, and gets more post-rock-ish, but it isn't boring at all. No, it's really quite beautiful while still retaining previous energies. Then, more heaviness, but this time it is suffocating. They're suffocating me with a metaphorical rope of musical heaviness with the density of an elephant's trunk, but then they stop. They forgive me for whatever wrongdoing I've done to them, leading them to beat me so harshly; they present me with soothing ambiance and a few strummed acoustic guitar chords. This ethereal music goes on for some time, and at some point a flautist pops out of nowhere and starts blowing it into my ear, but it's kind of nice. I'm a fan of Jethro Tull, so, whatever. Then it just kind of... slows down and ends. I always hope for a better ending, maybe one last punch in the face, but no matter how many times I listen to it the end never satisfies me. But that is okay, because this epic as a whole is very satisfying all together.

The remix of "Angel Tears" I find to be very annoying. I skip past it every time, even though that's it. There's nothing after the remix. It's too abrasively electronic for me. But, I guess, if remixes are "your thing" then you'll probably enjoy it. It sounds like a dreamier, electronic, more annoying version of the original "Angel Tears" (which is the song that got me into Pelican).

I'll give it 4 out of 5 stars, because why not? It's not just good, it's good enough.

Review by Andy Webb
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Retired Admin
4 stars The wonderful world of post metal

Pelican is a group that has a select group of massive fans, and a larger group of listeners that holds no particular love for the band but just an apathetic hold on their music in order to have some post metal in their collection. The band's music is sludgey, noisy, and a whole host of other skin-grating qualities that at times are appropriate and at others just a mass of noise and speaker-blowing mess. However, at points the music transitions into striking beauty, defying the baritone guitar mess with accents of acoustic grace and even sections of strings and piano. This EP, released shortly before their sophomore studio album, contains just two tracks, and lengthier, more improvised and at points more majestic and melodic version of the title track (on the full length it is titled "March to the Sea" rather than "into the Sea") and a remix of Angel Tears off their debut. Overall the EP is a grandiose post metal gem, and an obvious high point in their discography.

I'm a self-proclaimed lover of long songs, so the presence of two lengthier songs was an obvious bonus as I spelunked along Pelican's discography. Now I'm not a huge fan of post rock, and the combination of metal and the former genre is not high on my list of favored genres, but this band surely does a good job with it. Although, as I said before, much of the music is a mess of baritone guitar riffing and loud, overbearing drumming, this EP has a surprising amount of structure and melody to compliment it. The remix has a nice ambient almost electronic effect to it, which really accentuates the post rock feel behind the music. Overall, the two tracks are real treats for any post metal or even any post rock fan, and I recommend them to anyone who doesn't mind enduring a few grueling minutes of growling baritone guitar riffs. 4- stars.

Latest members reviews

5 stars March Into The Sea EP includes an entire version of a monster epic “March Into The Sea” (a shortened version of which can be found on the album “The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw” under the title “March To The Sea”) and a remix of “Angel Tears ... (read more)

Report this review (#164904) | Posted by Paper Champion | Tuesday, March 25, 2008 | Review Permanlink

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