THE FIRE IN OUR THROATS WILL BECKON THE THAW

Australasia showed much progression in Pelican's song writing, musical maturity, ability to evoke mental imagery and along with that greater emotional content, so clearly it was a record that left many people expecting even better things to come. The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw continues theme of nature present in Australasia, but this time around it's an even more prominent theme. The cover art work itself is very much nature focused too, only adding more emphasis to the general theme.

Make no mistake, Fire In Our Throats is heavy, very heavy. But just as Australasia put more emphasis on textural melody complexity compared to their debut EP. Fire In Our Throats takes this even further, but it never feels like it's lacking in sheer weight. If anything, the album offer a particularly huge and expansive feel, much like nature itself. Last Days of Winter kicks off the seasonal-nature feel of the album, starting off with some ambience that slowly builds up in intensity, and launches in the unexpectedly emotional riffage from Trevor de Brauw and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec, both on guitar. The sound is just massive, a big crushing wall that really suggests that could have easily been more than 2 guitarists in the band. Bryan Herweg's bass is loud and clear in the mix, but never overbearing here, so nothing but a positive in this aspect. As we traverse the seasons over the first two songs, it's very apparent the band is not only still as heavy as hell, but they are really perfecting the textural melody style, and the overall complexity is increased and in no way did it have a negative impact on the song writing. The songs present to us a better listening experience and are more emotional gripping than ever.

March To The Sea will be very familiar to those that had heard Pelican's March Into The Sea EP with the extended version of the song. Very dense, complex song, fast movement, and perhaps an ever so slightly faster tempo too. In the context of the album, it works well, allowing easier flow into the next song, and of course it ties in with the theme of nature. Aurora Borealis was quite a surprising turn of things for me on this album, because it really represented a much more post rock side of Pelican and a very light side of them too, quite a contrast from the dark brooding atmosphere from much of their heavier material. Aurora Borealis and Sirius were always very touching pieces of music and incredibly uplifting, Sirius being somewhat different in approach due to the extremely heavy dose of metal a bit into the song.

In terms of musicianship, I think the guys really did well here. The guitars were perfect together, absolutely top notch in all the musical contexts, and the use of layered melodies and riffing is really one of the features, for me, that took this album to a new level compared to their first EP and album. It really goes to show how you can be crushing heavy and have a great melodic sense in one album. The album is also a fabulous display of contrasting darker and lighter colors, to make something more than just one or the other. One thing that may not be particularly obvious to some people, but might be to guitar aficionados, is how even some guitar soloing techniques are incorporated into some of the songs, but it's done in a way that purely balances the surrounding musical context rather than being emphasized as guitar solos. Bryan Herweg's bass, as stated before but I felt it had to be emphasized, really really works here. Not only is he heard, but he also does something more than just double the bottom heavy guitar riffs. If anything was a little lacking, it's perhaps the drum work from Larry Herweg. His best display is March To The Sea, where his presence is heard very well, and he adds so much to the song, but on some of the other songs, perhaps he could have filled more space, but otherwise he did a pretty good job.

This album is as huge as they come: in sound, in structure and with a big seasonal-nature feel to match. The emotional content soars above their previous work, as well as the greater diversity in feelings and sound on offer and the band certainly set a high standard for Post Metal with this record. An album that is exciting and adventurous every inch of the way.