Pelican [EP]

Pelican | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 25, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: EP
• Label: Hydrahead Records
• ASIN: B00008DCT1
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,410 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. The Woods

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bird Watching, October 31, 2003

By 

daibhidh "daibhidh" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pelican (Audio CD)

This EP is HEAVY. HEAVY. HEAVY. HEAVY. These four fellas crank out a huge, relentless, world-crushing sound. The four tracks on this EP ("Pulse", "Mammoth", "Forecast for Today", "The Woods" -- clocking in at just under 30 minutes) take you into this deafening netherworld of cascading noise and repeating guitar themes that is eerily hypnotic, and can only be fully appreciated if you listen to it LOUD. Without a singer (can't imagine a singer trying to sing over their noise) they rely on their plodding instrumental pieces to create the mood. The feeling is that they're going to war with the listener.

"Pulse" sounds like this triumphal Olympic anthem where people play games to the death, instead of simply for medals. "Mammoth" is this blazing, thundering march that calls to mind the relentless charge of an army (with some odd drum rhythms tossed in now and then as a tease, making you think they're about to speed up). "Forecast..." is dark, gritty, savage, fuzzy-toned, without giving one much time to recover from the pummeling from the track before. "The Woods" is the darkest of them all, beginning with a lurking lead-in that gradually grows to fill the sonic vista with the grim inevitability of doom. Overblown description? Maybe -- but they way these guys play, it's EPIC!

Metalheads have taken to these guys, but they're really not exactly metallic. They're just monstrously heavy. My only complaint is that I think they need to add a little more variety in their sound, from song to song. I'd encourage them to experiment, because what they're doing is a cool thing, and they need to run with it and see what they can do.

I've heard that they're working on a full-length, and I found myself wondering if they'll be able to sustain the vibe for a whole album. In their current form, I'd leave that open, which is why I gave them four out of five stars.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In your face quartet, April 18, 2005

By 

R. Soni "Underground Metalhead" (Adelaide, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pelican (Audio CD)

This quartet from Chicago take the Sludge sub-genre of Doom Metal to a whole new level. Every instruments has it's own tasteful raw sound. That is to say that each instrument's sound is not sacrificed for another.

This EP, starts with "Pulse" which sets a mesmerizing tone for rest of the album. The sheer apocalypse of the next track "Mammoth" leads you through chunky cymbals, chug-a-chug guitars and a deep brooding bassline. The next track, "Forecast For Today" starts off from where the Mammoth left off. The drums have more presence here along with the bass guitars. The guitars as usual are furiously ear-splitting throughout with a micro-interlude and pseudo-solo around the ending quarter of the track. Finally the epic, "The Woods" begins with distortion free guitars and smooth bass lines, and once again with splashy cymbals. This song is slower paced, but yet reaches the heaviness of "Mammoth". There are melodic interludes in this track. After the first interlude, adrupt an adrupt tempo changes leads you through the rest of this 13-minute track.

I bought this CD from the HydraHead record's store and is the best 7 bucks I've spent. I am looking forward to the their's LP aka. Australasia arriving in my mailbox within the next few days.

If you feel a bit left out with Isis' Oceanic and Panopticon due to their slight change of direction, this CDs for you, nonetheless fans of current Isis albums would find themselves at home too. Cult of Luna fans, you'll be rewarded.

This CD is best heard at high volumes, so crank those speakers up. Subwoofer recommended, as the bass guitars in this album are worth hearing as they add a whole new texture to the album (as they do with any other Isis, Cult of Luna, Neurosis albums). Buy this!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I needed this., April 6, 2007

By 

J. R. Lacombe "jOe" (PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pelican (Audio CD)

I am not a real "metal" fan, but some of the bands I listen to are classified as such, like Opeth, Tool and The Melvins. However, I don't feel that one needs to be a metal fan to appreciate the sonic devastation which Pelican provides.

This is the first of Pelican I have bought, though I did listen to the streaming version of "The Fire in our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw" from Pelican's website (which impressed me with its different tones/shades and moods). This 20-something minute EP is extremely refreshing in my ear because it is exemplary of TRUE HEAVINESS.

I honestly do not believe that there exist many "metal" bands (or any variation thereof) that understand the primal simplicity of what drives a song to be felt and considered as heavy. This is not something native to heavy metal or any form of classic hard rock (including The Who and Led Zeppelin). This kind of HEAVINESS defies genre and permeates the boundaries of classification.

Beethoven understood heaviness.

Pelican understands heaviness.

Every time I play "Mammoth" in my car, I can't help but glance towards the mountains in fear of beholding an actual mammoth tramping its way through the meagre establishments of humanity.

What I am about to say is probably pretentious since I know next to nothing about present-day metal, and, for all I know Pelican's sound is easily beaten by several other bands, but here goes nonetheless:

In the storm of HEAVINESS, bands like Slayer and Megadeth form the lightning, the strike. Pelican is the thunder, bellowing patiently.