Pelican

Pelican emerged from Chicago in 2001 as a largely instrumental post-metal ensemble devoted to lengthy pieces that probe the sonic density and tonal color of amplified noise, shifting between pulverizing force and delicate atmosphere inside individual tracks. Their first full-length, Australasia, appeared in 2003 and was followed by further explorations at the fringes of stoner rock, doom, and post-metal on City of Echoes in 2007, Forever Becoming in 2013, and Nighttime Stories in 2019.

Guitarists Trevor de Brauw and Laurent Lebec joined forces with brothers Larry Herweg on bass and Bryan Herweg on drums to establish the covert instrumental art-metal unit. Deeply indebted to Neurosis and frequently likened to Boston’s Isis, the quartet found a natural home on Hydra Head Records, the label run by Isis founder Aaron Turner. After issuing a self-titled four-song EP in 2003, they broadened their expansive, otherworldly trance-metal approach with the widely praised Australasia later that same year and The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw in 2004. Following intensive roadwork, the group paused before reconvening in 2006 to record City of Echoes, which surfaced in June 2007; the live album and film After the Ceiling Cracked followed in December. Their fourth studio album, What We All Come to Need, arrived in 2009. An EP titled Ataraxia/Taraxis appeared in 2012, the same year Laurent Lebec exited and touring guitarist Dallas Thomas joined permanently. With the revised lineup the band delivered its fifth long-player, Forever Becoming, in 2013.

The Cliff EP surfaced in 2015, presenting album material in four alternate forms that included remixes by Justin Broadrick, Aaron Harris, and Bryant Clifford Meyer, plus a vocal rendition featuring Allen Epley and the previously unheard semi-acoustic track “The Wait.” Pelican maintained a full schedule in 2019, issuing a remixed and remastered edition of Forever Becoming, a Record Store Day single, and the fresh studio album Nighttime Stories.