Just like you scrub away the day’s grime with a loofah, sometimes you need to sandpaper away of unpleasant memories of bad radio you’re subjected to. Pelican’s Australasia is the perfect cure. While its roots in instrumental sludge metal and post-rock, and it’s affiliation with post-metal overlords Isis via their label Hydra Head, give vibes of difficult listening, it’s actually quite relaxing. That is, if you have any background appreciation of super-heavy music at all. There’s evidence of some Sabbath and Melvins style powerchords, tuned down and the tempo cut in half, and arty doom-dirges of God, Godflesh and Scorn.
As background music Australasia‘s tempo seems consistent, its tone satisfyingly thick, massaging the lower registers of your hearing. Put on the headphones (or risk your lease and crank the sound system) and allow your biochemistry to slow down and meld with the music, and technicolour worlds open up. The dynamics magically expand and guitar riffs become impossibly huge, as if wielded by gods to chop down mountains (as one guitar god used to do). The tracks (half of which run over ten minutes) may be hard to differentiate at first, but soon you’ll have every note burned in your subconscious, providing “dunh-dunh-duuunnnhh” soundtracks to enliven all your routine daily activities.
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