Andyman1125
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.