Pelican

The unfortunate "metalcore" classification that's often applied to Pelican is far more foreboding than the band's actual sound. The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw, especially, swells with monumental beauty -- songs stretch past the ten-minute mark, building intently and delivering cathartic crescendos, like a storm gathering in the distance that eventually drenches you to the bone. Easily one of the best and most underrated albums of 2005, there's little metal and even less core to Fire... Instead, layered guitars, masterful volume dynamics and dramatic progressions make for a truly powerful, instrumental epic.