Band:	Pelican
Album:	City Of Echoes
Style:	Instrumental post-metal
Release date:	May 22, 2007
A review by:	Herzebeth

Disc I [CD]
01. Bliss In Concrete
02. City Of Echoes
03. Spaceship Broken--Parts Needed
04. Winds With Hands
05. Dead Between The Walls
06. Lost In The Headlights
07. Far From Fields
08. A Delicate Sense Of Balance

Disc II [DVD] [Japanese edition]
01. Bliss In Concrete [Live In Los Angeles 9/26/2006]
02. Мarch To The Sea [Live In Los Angeles 9/26/2006]
03. City Of Echoes [Live In Los Angeles 9/26/2006]
04. Aurora Borealis [Live In Los Angeles 9/26/2006]
05. Spaceship Broken-Parts Needed [Live In Los Angeles 9/26/2006]
06. Last Day Of Winter [Live In Los Angeles 9/26/2006]

I remember exactly the day I was blessed with "The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw", it doesn't matter, I stamped it on that review actually; two years later I received the follow-up, one would expect it to be a grand extention of the previous effort, an amazing journey to the odd ends of "The Fire in Our Throats?", well, it isn't.

Instead we have a different installment; the droned pasagges and the long atmospheres are way out of the question, Pelican, the band that was bombarding us with lengthy songs and incredibly layered structures is no more. But is it a bad idea? NOT AT ALL.

"City Of Echoes" shows a band trying new things, evolving, using a different plateu to release their sonic offering. It's more digestible to begin with, the songs flow smoothly through the speakers and this will make the "sit through" task a lot easier. What differs form the Pelican that we're used to is the lack of repetitions, the rest of their albums had a segment with a layered background and a repetitive front in each song, while you were listening to the same riff over and over again the background was going crazy with the atmospheres. Now we don't have crazy backgrounds, we don't have repetitive riffs, we have a band playing instrumental hard-rock for about 45 minutes.

The thing is, "City Of Echoes" moves towards a Post-Rock sound and leaves the Metal undertones behind; yes the music is way easier, but there's a catch, as the music goes a little faster in its structures, you won't be able to fully comprehend the entire riff's collection, the music becomes less catchy and it will take more listens for you to get used to them or even recognize the patterns.

I personally love this record, the production is way better than the rest of their albums, the sound is different, but it works perfectly, the guitar-play is truly amazing and the music still creates a shivering feeling in my spine. The band's purists will twist their eyes and will miss a great piece, but the truth is that "City Of Echoes" is Pelican's most personal album, a mind crusher?

?I do prefer "The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw" I can't lie.