Pelican and Thrill Jockey are proud to present a deluxe edition of the band’s acclaimed 2005 album 'The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw,' newly remixed and remastered and featuring special bonus rarities including an early version of “Red Ran Amber,” (previously only available on a split with MONO) and demos of “Autumn Into Summer,” “Last Day of Winter” and “Sirius”. The album arrives with a fresh mix by its original engineer Greg Norman and mastering by Josh Bonati, imbibing the songs with a new ferocity while also granting increased clarity, highlighting the developing interplay between each member. The refreshed mix brings an additional punch to the rhythm section of bassist Bryan Herweg and drummer Larry Herweg, bolstering the brightened melodicism and interlocking riffing between guitarists Trevor Shelley de Brauw and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec. The more articulate presentation of the album showcases the power of each individual player while buttressing Pelican’s distinct sound as a unified force.
“As part of the long process of assembling these reissues we went back to the original tapes and made transfers to ensure we had digital backups of everything as well as physical,” Shelley de Brauw explains. “Greg oversaw this work at Electrical Audio and somewhere in the process of archiving the original 24 track tapes of 'Fire In Our Throats' he had the brainstorm that he wanted to take another pass at the mixes with all the experience he’s accrued in the years since the original recording. The album was a really pivotal one for us, but admittedly the original mix sessions were rushed and the final product always felt like it was lacking something. From the first test mix Greg sent over we knew that we had the rare opportunity to hear the album the way we’d long envisioned. We cannot wait for people to hear the new life that he’s breathed into this album.”
Following the heavy riffing bombardment of 'Australasia,' 'The Fire In Our Throats' showcased the group’s compositional deftness via the addition of increasingly complex melodic layers. The genre-busting nature of the album’s melodicism and refined dynamics was a harbinger of things to come in a genre whose strict boundaries were rapidly being shattered. “Autumn Into Summer” showcases Pelican’s unique sense of rhythm and cadence, with subtlety and gentle gestures one moment and thunderous full-stomp ferocity the next. The simplicity and romance of “Aurora Borealis” demonstrates how completely the band had harnessed their potential to make affecting music without defaulting to mountains of distortion or booming percussion. “Sirius” bursts with a hopefulness and sense of joy rarely exhibited in heavy music, whereas “March to the Sea” embraces the darker tropes of metal and twists them into knottier, more nuanced webs. Across the album’s hour of runtime, not a single moment is wasted. Each passage exudes an emotional depth, a sense of wonder and awe that few artists tap into in their oeuvre.
'The Fire In Our Throats' established Pelican as indisputable masters of their craft. Pelican’s ability to alchemize their influences into a sound so wholly original and then expand on that sound into a work of captivating beauty remains a marvel. The album indelibly shifted the paradigm of heavy music and the ripples of that shift can be heard in the countless bands who have risen to prominence since its release. Nearly two decades since the album’s release on Hydra Head Records, 'The Fire In Our Throats' has stood as not just one of the band’s most celebrated releases, but as a watershed work of avant-metal.
