The Era of: Pelican Beach

The Era Of is a four piece progressive rock band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The band includes: Matt McGachy on vocals; Pavlo Haikalis on guitars; Chris Brandel on basses; and M-OS on drums.

The band's website compares their sound to Rush, but I think McGachy's vocals remind me more of Scott Stapp, of the band Creed. He has that similar screaming quality to his vocals without much inflection, at least for the first six songs, before he quiets down for "Through the End (Save them from themselves)", which ends up being one of the best songs on the album for me, for the relief it brings. The band's sound for me follows the line of music closer to Creed. The screaming vocals really pierce your ears beyond the sounds of the instrumentation and melody, and prevent you from really enjoying the soundscape.

I understand the Rush comparison, because the guitar and bass work has similar quality, if you could enjoy them through McGachy's screams. "Through the End…" also provides some much needed guitar soloing.

"Silence falls Upon Pelican Beach", and it provides a nice short instrumental break, and another album highlight. However, it's only a little over a minute long. "Don't Panic" has another great opening instrumental, before McGachy's screams return, and this time even louder.

There is an over 95 page booklet included with the CD, which details the story included in the album's lyrics.

Good, if steady guitar instrumentation, if you can get beyond the screaming vocals.

Track Listing:

1. 1321 Overture
2. A Haunted Skyline
3. Days Like this Will Come
4. Remorse in Farrans' Divide
5. Mount Auster
6. Auditory Lapse
7. Aqueous Panorama
8. Through the End (Save them from themselves)
9. Silence falls Upon Pelican Beach
10. From Ryder Rhoads to Everley
11. Don't Panic
12. The Unveiling

Added: November 19th 2011
Reviewer: Mark Johnson
Score:
Related Link: The Era of
Hits: 2360
Language: english

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