''Forever Becoming'' is the fifth studio album by American
post-metal
Post-metal is a music genre rooted in heavy metal but exploring approaches beyond metal conventions. It emerged in the 1990s with bands such as Neurosis and Godflesh, who transformed metal texture through experimental composition. In a way simil ...
band
Pelican
Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...
. The album was released on October 15, 2013 through
Southern Lord Records
Southern Lord is an American heavy metal record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson. It specialized in experimental metal: particularly doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal. The label later expanded its line-up to include arti ...
. ''Forever Becoming'' marks Pelican's first release to not include founding guitarist Laurent Schroeder-Lebec.
Prior to the album's release, Pelican released an online stream of "Immutable Dusk" in July, 2013.
"
Deny the Absolute" was released as a stand-alone single in August, 2013,
and later as a music video in December, 2014.
An online stream of "The Cliff" was released in September, 2013,
and was followed by ''
The Cliff
A cliff is a vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure.
Cliff, The Cliff or The Cliffs may also refer to:
Buildings
*Cliff Brewery, a former brewery near Ipswich, England
*Cliff Palace, largest cliff dwelling in North America
*The Cliffs, a histo ...
'' as a separate EP in 2015.
Background and composition
''Forever Becoming'' is the first Pelican album since its inception in 2001 to not feature founding guitarist Laurent Schroeder-Lebec.
He withdrew from touring with Pelican in 2010, told his fellow band members that his "heart wasn't fully in it" following the recording of the 2012 EP ''
Ataraxia/Taraxis'', and publicly announced his departure two months after the release of the EP in June 2012.
Schroeder-Lebec left to spend more time with his family. Pelican originally planned to carry on as a three-piece band,
but then-touring guitarist Dallas Thomas of The Swan King became a full-time member and ended up contributing to the writing process of ''Forever Becoming''. On working with Thomas, guitarist Trevor de Brauw said, "
assist Bryan Herwegand I are more freewheeling. We don't have every detail worked out, whereas
allas Thomasis very meticulous and really likes to have things thought out. Having that balance means we're not going to veer too far in either direction."
On the sound of ''Forever Becoming'', de Brauw described it as being "a lot darker, depressive, and angry," which he attributed to the "nervous headspace" caused by continuing on without Schroeder-Lebec.
The increased aggression of the album drew positive reactions from critics.
While songs on some of Pelican's more recent albums experimented with a traditional or pop structures, the songs on ''Forever Becoming'' were designed to feature a narrative or journey, with songs intentionally ending very differently from where they began.
''Forever Becoming'' was produced by Chris Common, formerly of
These Arms Are Snakes
These Arms Are Snakes was an American post-hardcore band that formed in 2002 and featured former members of Botch and Kill Sadie. Before disbanding in 2009, they released three studio albums: ''Oxeneers or the Lion Sleeps When Its Antelope Go Ho ...
, who also previously produced Pelican's 2009 studio album, ''
What We All Come to Need
''What We All Come to Need'' is the fourth studio album by American post-metal band Pelican. The album was released on October 27, 2009 through Southern Lord Records and was the band's first for the label after leaving Hydra Head Records earlie ...
''.
2019 Remix
In February 2019, Pelican and Southern Lord announced a deluxe vinyl reissue of ''Forever Becoming''. In a statement from Southern Lord, the label stated that the band was satisfied with the original recordings, but the post-production mixing and mastering was done in a makeshift studio that was set up in "less-than-ideal circumstances" that was said to have "varnished the incredible tones generated during tracking".
The original producer Chris Common returned to remix and remaster the album at his own studio. Southern Lord said he brought "a new level of low-end depth, atmospheric clarity, and tight, punchy heaviness to the album." All streaming sites updated their version of ''Forever Becoming'' to the 2019 Remix version.
In addition refreshed audio, the 2019 reissue also features the formerly Japan-only bonus track "Bardo" and the version of "The Cliff" from ''
The Cliff
A cliff is a vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure.
Cliff, The Cliff or The Cliffs may also refer to:
Buildings
*Cliff Brewery, a former brewery near Ipswich, England
*Cliff Palace, largest cliff dwelling in North America
*The Cliffs, a histo ...
'' EP with Allen Epley providing vocals (in addition to the original version).
Critical reception
''Forever Becoming'' was met with positive reception. The album received an average score of 74/100 from 10 reviews on
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Gregory Heaney of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
wrote, "it seems the change in membership has reinvigorated them, providing their songs with a sense of stability that shines through on an album that easily ranks as some of the band's most exciting work in recent years."
Writing for ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'', Jason Heller praised ''Forever Becoming'', saying that "by stepping back and taking stock, Pelican has reconnected with what made it a pioneer in the first place: force, vision, and soul."
''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'' writer Colin St. John said lauded the album's heightened aggression, saying the unusual heaviness proves that the band still has life left.
However, not all critics were impressed by the efforts of this new version of Pelican; in a more middling review, ''
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
'' writer Brice Ezell (who had praised the band's previous EP)
criticized ''Forever Becoming'' for regressing in quality and style.
Track listing
Personnel
''Forever Becoming'' personnel according to liner notes.
Pelican
* Bryan Herweg
* Larry Herweg
* Trevor Shelley de Brauw
* Dallas Thomas
Additional musicians
* Chris Common –
mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...
on "Threnody," additional drums on "The Tundra" and piano on "Perpetual Dawn"
*
Bruce Lamont – baritone sax on "Terminal"
Production and recording
* Chris Common – recording, mixing
* Joe Lambert – mastering
* Jon San Paolo – assistant engineering
* Gregoire Yechen – assistant engineering
Art and design
* Stephen O'Malley – collage design
* Andrew Weiss – photography
Chart positions
References
External links
Forever Becoming (2019 Remix)on
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...
{{Authority control
2013 albums
Southern Lord Records albums
Pelican (band) albums