The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw
Encyclopedia
The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw is the second full-length studio album
by Chicago
post-metal
band Pelican
. It was released May 22, 2005 on Hydra Head Records
. Regarding the lengthy and unusual name of the album, guitarist
Trevor de Brauw joked, "The title is meant to confuse people. The original title was going to be Black Doom on Tuesday."
According to de Brauw, various influences came into making the album, including early industrial
, hardcore
other metal
influences, and has also noted the high quality of the studio and exceptional amount of time the group had to finish the album compared to that of their previous effort, Australasia. As the band is very environmentally conscious
, The Fire... has a nature
-driven theme
with song titles such as "Last Day of Winter," "Autumn into Summer," and "Aurora Borealis." It also marks the introduction of acoustic guitar
to Pelican's catalog of full-length albums.
"March to the Sea" found substantial airplay on the satellite radio
station Hard Attack. An extended version of the track, entitled "March into the Sea," was released on the group's similarly titled EP
only a few months prior. This version has a less refined sound and runs nearly twice as long at 20:28. De Brauw considers the EP version a "teaser
single
before the record came out, as well as a collector's item for completionists."
chose it as #1 on their Top Albums of 2005 list, while Terrorizer ranked it at #35. Critics have cited its atmospheric and compositional excellence as well as the cohesiveness of the album as a whole. With the exception of tracks like "March to the Sea" and "Red Ran Amber," The Fire... is also noted as deemphasizing the heaviness found on Australasia while significantly expanding the group's style in favor of complex, layered melody. This attribute has been loathed by some fans of Pelican's previous work but largely seen as maturation. Many critics have expressed difficulty in labeling the album within a particular genre, but despite the range of influences involved in its creation, have often compared it to doom metal
, post-rock
, and groups like Isis
.
Scott Alisoglu of Blabbermouth.net
wrote, "The music of The Fire in our Throats... not only conjures visions of earth's explosive creation
, but also the blending of pristine beauty with nature's unforgiving wrath. It's powerful stuff", and regarding its heaviness, added, "The one constant here is compositional excellence. Make no mistake though, The Fire in our Throats... is a heavy rock album. The band just paints with more colors and uses a bigger canvas on this one."
Andrew Bonazelli of Decibel, in reviewing Isis
's 2004 Panopticon
, compared the two albums and described their shared tone as "triumphant".
Other personnel
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
post-metal
Post-metal
Post-metal is a music genre, a mixture between the genres of post-rock and heavy metal.Hydra Head Records owner and Isis frontman Aaron Turner originally termed the genre "thinking man's metal", demonstrating that his band was trying to move away from common metal conventions...
band Pelican
Pelican (band)
Pelican is a post-metal quartet from Chicago, Illinois.-Biography and description:The band is known for its dense combinations of different melodies and extended track lengths. Its distinctive sound draws from stoner rock, doom metal, post-rock, and other influences...
. It was released May 22, 2005 on Hydra Head Records
Hydra Head Records
Hydra Head Records is an independent record label which specializes in heavy metal music, founded in New Mexico by Aaron Turner in 1993...
. Regarding the lengthy and unusual name of the album, guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Trevor de Brauw joked, "The title is meant to confuse people. The original title was going to be Black Doom on Tuesday."
According to de Brauw, various influences came into making the album, including early industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
, hardcore
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
other metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
influences, and has also noted the high quality of the studio and exceptional amount of time the group had to finish the album compared to that of their previous effort, Australasia. As the band is very environmentally conscious
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
, The Fire... has a nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
-driven theme
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
with song titles such as "Last Day of Winter," "Autumn into Summer," and "Aurora Borealis." It also marks the introduction of acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
to Pelican's catalog of full-length albums.
"March to the Sea" found substantial airplay on the satellite radio
Satellite radio
Satellite radio is an analogue or digital radio signal that is relayed through one or more satellites and thus can be received in a much wider geographical area than terrestrial FM radio stations...
station Hard Attack. An extended version of the track, entitled "March into the Sea," was released on the group's similarly titled EP
March Into The Sea (EP)
March into the Sea is the second EP by Chicago-based instrumental metal band Pelican, released in 2005 by Hydra Head Records. The title track is the original version of the shortened song "March to the Sea" from their 2005 album The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw, which was released just...
only a few months prior. This version has a less refined sound and runs nearly twice as long at 20:28. De Brauw considers the EP version a "teaser
Teaser trailer
A teaser campaign is an advertising campaign which typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisements that anticipate a larger, full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event. These advertisements are called "teasers" or "teaser ads"...
single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
before the record came out, as well as a collector's item for completionists."
Reception
The Fire... was met with overall positive reception. Decibel MagazineDecibel magazine
Decibel is a monthly heavy metal and extreme music magazine published by the Philadelphia-based Red Flag Media. Since October 2004, Decibel has featured a plethora of extreme metal bands and musicians. Its sections include Upfront, Features, Reviews, Guest Columns and the Decibel Hall of Fame...
chose it as #1 on their Top Albums of 2005 list, while Terrorizer ranked it at #35. Critics have cited its atmospheric and compositional excellence as well as the cohesiveness of the album as a whole. With the exception of tracks like "March to the Sea" and "Red Ran Amber," The Fire... is also noted as deemphasizing the heaviness found on Australasia while significantly expanding the group's style in favor of complex, layered melody. This attribute has been loathed by some fans of Pelican's previous work but largely seen as maturation. Many critics have expressed difficulty in labeling the album within a particular genre, but despite the range of influences involved in its creation, have often compared it to doom metal
Doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...
, post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
, and groups like Isis
Isis (band)
Isis was a Los Angeles, California-based post-metal band, founded in Boston, Massachusetts, with a career spanning from 1997 to 2010...
.
Scott Alisoglu of Blabbermouth.net
Blabbermouth.net
Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was officially launched in March 2001...
wrote, "The music of The Fire in our Throats... not only conjures visions of earth's explosive creation
Geological history of Earth
The geological history of Earth follows the major events in Earth's past based on the geologic time scale, a system of chronological measurement based on the study of the planet's rock layers...
, but also the blending of pristine beauty with nature's unforgiving wrath. It's powerful stuff", and regarding its heaviness, added, "The one constant here is compositional excellence. Make no mistake though, The Fire in our Throats... is a heavy rock album. The band just paints with more colors and uses a bigger canvas on this one."
Andrew Bonazelli of Decibel, in reviewing Isis
Isis (band)
Isis was a Los Angeles, California-based post-metal band, founded in Boston, Massachusetts, with a career spanning from 1997 to 2010...
's 2004 Panopticon
Panopticon (album)
Panopticon is the third full-length album by Los Angeles, California based post-metal band Isis, released by Ipecac Recordings in 2004. The album's title is derived from philosopher Jeremy Bentham's panopticon prison ideal and philosopher/historian Michel Foucault's later allegorical appropriation...
, compared the two albums and described their shared tone as "triumphant".
Track listing
- "Last Day of Winter" – 9:37
- "Autumn Into Summer" – 10:44
- "March to the Sea" – 11:38
- "•" – 4:44
- "Red Ran Amber" – 11:20
- "Aurora Borealis" – 4:55
- "Sirius" – 5:47
Personnel
Band members- Trevor de Brauw – guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
- Bryan Herweg – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Larry Herweg – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Laurent Schroeder-Lebec – guitar
Other personnel
- John Golden – mastering
- Jason Hellmann – photography
- Greg Norman – mixing and recording
- Aaron TurnerAaron TurnerAaron Turner is a musician, singer, graphic artist, and founder of label Hydra Head Records. He is most widely known for his role as guitarist and vocalist for the post-metal band Isis, while also participating in several other bands and projects such as Old Man Gloom and Lotus Eaters.Though raised...
– album artwork and construction - Rob Vester – mixing and recording assistance