AUSTRALASIA

As some of you know, my knowledge about this kind of music (metal, post metal, etc) is very limited; however I have listened to some albums and enjoyed some of them. My first experience with this American band was at least 4 years ago when Assaf introduced me to them, I even remember I played this CD in my father´s car when we were travelling in some holiday, he was really bored, while I was enjoying it.

Anyway, until now, I had not played this album for one or two years so I actually did not remember the sound of all the songs. Australasia is the name of this first Pelican's album and contains 6 songs, two of them are very short while the rest are 10 minute average songs, the total time is about 50 minutes

It kicks off with "Nightendday", after a slight beginning, that Pelican sounds appear with heavy guitars but not the same kind of heavy guitars as some heavy metal bands, there are no solos every two minutes, but instead, a post-rock feeling lies here, progressing every single minute making some short stops and changes, but finishing in the same Pelican line; so that post metal label really describes the sound here. The two guitar players distribute perfectly their work so despite both guitars may sound jammed in moments, you can clearly appreciate the different things they are doing at the moment. This is a very good opener song, an excellent introduction to their sound.

"Drought" continues with that heavy sound but now shown since the very first second, the song structure is the same almost all the time, but the fact is that they put different figures every four quarters, so it is a rich song full of little but no less important elements, at minute 6 the song stops for one second and later reincorporates with that heavy sound full of power, but without being power metal.

"Angel tears" now here is what I would call the problem,(not in this particular song), I mean, that after almost 20 minutes of the first two tracks, now I could get a bit bored since the style is practically the same, I know it is the band's own style and those Pelican die-hard fans would say that is the goal, but to me, who am not a metal follower, the music begins to sound bored, so better to put stop, rest a couple of minutes and then return to the album.

"GW" is a short 3-minute song, not bad at all, but I would say is more of the same, I personally, would have cut this song off the album since it doesn't add anything new to the music.

Next song is "Untitled", and at last something different, now they play with acoustic guitars making a totally different sound, so that heaviness has become softness; there is a sound like wind chiming which was perfectly put within the song, provoking melancholy while listening to it, both acoustic guitars complement each other in the best possible way. So in my opinion this decision of making a different kind of song was perfectly elaborated and well-placed, pretty good

And the album finishes with the title track, 10 minutes of true Pelican sound which can be well appreciated by the listener (by me) after that 5 minute "Untitled" break. So here they return to their heavy and post metal sound, let me tell you something you may know, but if you have good headphones, you can really appreciate what they are offering, in particular the use of a pair of electric guitars; as I recall in the second song, they use different elements and put different figures to the sound, so the progression can be better understood. A very good song, because it also has its little changes that help building every new passage.

Plenty of time passed since I last played it, now I enjoyed it but as I wrote, there was a moment when I felt bored, but as you know, this is not my favorite style of music. 3 final stars.

Enjoy it!

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