All Pelican songs—or epics, rather—unravel with the vigorous intensity of a medieval battle. The Chicago avant-metal instrumentalists sometimes sound at war with themselves, as guitarists Trevor de Brauw and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec (who was replaced by Dallas Thomas in 2012) push the rhythm section into full-on panic mode on early stoner/doom-metal cuts like 2003's "Drought." But they always find a gentle compromise, letting their riffs twist and meander with the pensive patience of post-rock on "City of Echoes" and "The Wait," all while building to a scorching yet triumphant crescendo.