07.
Pelican
City Of Echoes

This is a purely instrumental prog-rock (tinged with some metal) album. Pelican have been making records of this kind for a while – this is the second one I have but I think it’s something like their fourth release. The difference between this and the other album I have by them is the band’s focus. On City Of Echoes, everything has purpose: the riffs are powerful and the band are tight as hell. This is not to say they’ve lost their prog elements, but unlike before, they don’t stray down any back alleys. Prog, yes, but it always seems to be going somewhere. Each and every song feels like it has been carefully constructed to wring the utmost emotion possible from you (no mean feat when there are no lyrics involved). A band on the brink of something really huge – just one more step in the right direction and they become legends.