There is a restaurant in this bands hometown of Chicago called Kuma's Corner. They specialize in burgers of all types and name them after famous bands. I bet you can tell where I am going with this as yes there is a Pelican burger. You start off with a ten ounce Kobe Beef patty. World renowned as the most delicious beef there is, this is a fitting way to start off a Pelican Burger. Then they add pan seared scallops and lardons in a white wine sauce for a different texture and flavor. All this is served on a spicy Parmesan crisp and comes with a white wine-garlic aioli to dip it into if you want a bit more zip.
In that sandwich you basically have the band and their new release What We All Come To Need in a nutshell. You begin with an instrumental group that has been called everything from stoner to post-rock and even doom metal. This band travels into the valleys of all these musical forms and then some but never stay in any chosen genre long enough to take up residency. Whatever field they cross on this disc, it is a superior slab of meaty guitar driving music that is entrancing and constantly shifting gears as you try to keep up with them.
Pulling from all these categories there is certainly a different texture and flavor for each of the 8 tracks on here. From the very melodic and kind of 80's feeling heavy metal of "Glimmer" to the doomish and heaviness of "The Creeper" where they use this cool fuzzy distortion that is exactly what the title implies, the band captures a sound that is very much their own.
With a metal crunch that would make Tony Iommi proud, Pelican gives you a dizzying display on the song "Strung Up From The Sky". This is one of my favorites on the disc as they take it from a dark brooding piece to a dynamic work of melodic metal before returning to the thrashing that they released upon you at the start. This is an instrumental work that will leave you quivering and a ragged mess as the band leaves no genre untouched in their pursuit of the perfect piece of metal music.
They come closest to that perfection on the title track "What We All Come to Need". This is a terrific song and a melody that is as hook filled as you are going to get. I even feel a bit of a Southern tinge to the music on this one. It is just an amazing melody that will remain with you long after you shut off the player. I found myself returning to this piece numerous times and always enjoying each visit!
If all this is not enough to make you run out and grab this disc ASAP then let me give you a little bonus. The band enlists the help of Allen Epley from Shiner to give a voice to these marvelous musicians. Yes, for the "Final Breath" of this album they have for the first time added vocals. Now to be honest, I cannot say that they do much for me. It is a nice touch and adds another dimension but I have to say that if they were not there, I doubt I would miss them. Allen gives a dreamy like rendition of these lyrics that were inspired by the Robert Burns poem, A Red, Red Rose.
This is one very cool instrumental disc. There is so much going on musically that you will really enjoy all the complexities and interwoven passages that blend together to make each song a unique listening experience. A warning, if you are one of those that store your CD's by genre, you might want to pick up about a dozen copies of this one. Even that may not be enough! Just sit back and enjoy!
Track listing:
1. Glimmer
2. The Creeper
3. Ephemeral
4. Specks of Light
5. Strung Up From the Sky
6. An Inch Above Sand
7. What We All Come to Need
8. Final Breath
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