Pelican “Ataraxia/Taraxis" LP

Clear vinyl!

The titular lead track, “Ataraxia”, means “peace of mind,” an apt title for this calm (if somewhat unsettling) song, which opens with an Eastern-inflected dirge and then picks up a gentle keyboard melody over a growling bassline. “Lathe Biosas” immediately busts the record wide open with an impacting, churning guitar riff before unraveling into a lighter, quickly strummed grind. However, the buildup picks up the pace on the hard-pummeling “Parasite Colony”, echoing the band’s past material. “Taraxis” sounds more like a companion piece to the album’s opener. It’s moreover an acoustic track, with a great minimalist bells-and-organ breakdown that makes up its core, all before it explodes into a gloriously distorted finale.