Metal Hammer Review: Pelican

Here’s a reprint of a review of the new Pelican mini album that ran in Metal Hammer a few months ago.

PELICAN

ATARAXIA/TARAXIS

SOUTHERN LORD

This month the un-pigeonhole-able quartet that is Pelican pen a brand new chapter in their storied career with the release of Ataraxia/Taraxis and it’s a grandiose, imaginative affair from the instrumentalists that will leave your speakers a quivering wreck by the time it reaches its epic conclusion. Recorded in four different studios, the EP is their first new material since ‘09’s What We All Come To Need and is a strong offering that shows something of a unified front despite the members living in three different cities at the time of writing. The two tension-filled title tracks bookend the four-song release and  sees the band try to break new ground by putting more emphasis on dynamics and atmosphere than ever before and they are throbbing, intense numbers that employ acoustic guitars and strange alien sounds to great effect. Lathe Biosas and Parasite Colony on the other hand are vintage Pelican efforts that prove they’re still compelled by the power of the riff and our only problem with the EP is that the end comes far too soon. [7]

EDWIN McFEE