| The
Review |
As I stated in my review of Pelican's 2005 release "The
Fire in Our Throats will Beckon the Thaw", this is not your
ordinary, average prog metal outfit. Pelican thrive on slow
building crescendos and a wall of sound with a very doomy
vibe, occasionally breaking down into acoustics from time
to time. The songs are longish (3 over 10 minutes on this
release). This is the band's first release, which I recently
picked up after slowly growing into their more recent album
mentioned above.
"Australasia" is a tad heavier and more doomy than "The
Fire...", but overall sounds much the same. The first and
last tracks are my favorite, as they each shift through several
parts before climaxing. Again - these guys are not for everyone,
and sometimes they are not even for me if I am not in a patient
mood. Their downfall is that they can sound repetitive in
some tracks due to the "building" effect that they are striving
for, but once you "get" these guys - you no longer mind. I
don't think I will ever like them as much as my more "true"
prog roots, but it is inventive and different from what a
lot of bands are doing. That said, I believe the band's entire
sound is largely based on Isis, whose sound was in turn based
on another band called Neurosis. So maybe they aren't that
original after all.
Pelican is instrumental, and the downtuned guitars are
extremely doomy - often conveying an "end of the world" approach.
When listening to these guys, I suggest headphones to bring
out the differing guitar sections which, at the beginning,
sound like a wall of noise. I think I have settled on a rating
for this and "The Fire..." of 3.5 stars.
Both are solid albums and I recommend trying it for the
metal-oriented prog fan.
|
