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PeliCan
chicago band pelican marches heavy metal into the new millennium.
Words: stacey dugan
Lets get this out of the way: Pelican is a heavy
metal band without a singer.
This has prompted journalists to create clever
labels like “instrumetal” to describe them–and
while such words aptly acknowledge broad
themes in the music, they overlook the unique
and defining characteristics of this band.
Pelican does subscribe to the high-decibel,
aggressive performance ethos of the heavy metal
canon, but the band members also concern themselves
with structural concepts atypical to much
contemporary music in general–like orchestral
composition. The band’s two lead guitarists
(Laurent Lebec and Trevor de Brauw) employ
varied harmonic techniques, while the group’s
non-standard song structure yields 10-minute
tracks that are astoundingly intricate tapestries of
sound.
What’s youR favoRite ChiCago institution? Laurent Lebec: The lake.
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But in the beginning Pelican was just a grindcore
band, only it went by the name of Tusk.
Lebec, de Brauw and drummer Larry Herweg
met in 1996, while Lebec was an undergrad at
Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. All
three were involved in the punk and hardcore
scene and had similar influences, so it wasn’t
long before Tusk was born. Independently, Lebec
began writing acoustic songs of a very different
nature, and although his bandmates showed
enthusiasm for the new music, it didn’t really fit
with Tusk’s style. So they formed a new band,
Pelican, and invited Herweg’s brother Bryan to
join them as their bassist.
“At first I think that there was definitely an
affinity with Isis and bands that are heavier but
slower and have a more plodding nature to
them,” Lebec says. “I think that as time went by
Pelican: Trevor DeBrauw, Larry Herweg, Bryan Herweg and Laurent Lebec
we ended up going further back in time for the
inspiration that’s moving us now.”
Now, with the release of their second fulllength,
The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw
(Hydra Head)–which is not as categorically heavy
as their 2003 debut, Australasia–Pelican is steadily
accruing a base of fans from across music genres.
“We noticed right away, even playing in
Chicago, that a really wide variety of people were
coming–it wasn’t all metal heads,” says Lebec,
happy that Pelican has avoided being pigeonholed.
“Now that people have so many options
for downloading music you’re really aware, as
a band, that how you get categorized really has
a repercussion on how your music will be interpreted
by people who aren’t familiar with it.
Especially as an instrumental band.”
www.hydrahead.com
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