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The Boreal Coast is an album of contradictions. The intro track, “Eventide”, sets the tone with a stomping metal riff that abruptly turns acoustic to finish out the 1:46 run time. Throughout the album Pan mix extremely groovy death metal riffs reminiscent of Temple of Void with whiplash tempo changes, angular sections, softer acoustic passages, and the odd guitar solo. It feels barely contained in it’s sub-forty minute run time.
Though Metal Archives lists them as “progressive doom/stoner metal” Pan are much more rooted in death metal. Vocals are mostly a staccato growl, riffs tend to be angular and much of the album shows a Meshuggah-like obsession with rhythm above all. Progressive is certainly accurate, though. The album practically explodes with ideas. Grooves and riffs fly by, turning on a dime and all manner of clean and rasped vocals supplement the death growls. Interestingly, though, the show-stopper is when they completely change gears in the largely acoustic “Litany Nocturnal”; an ominous western-tinged track with appropriately sinister clean vocals.
Throughout the album the grooves are killer and the whole band delivers, but the frenetic shifts are a double-edged sword. On tracks like “The Apothecary” all the riffs and transitions lock together for a roller coaster of a track. But, because the core of Pan’s sound is angular and highly rhythmic, anything less than an expertly executed transition really stands out. The flow sometimes seems stilted with section changes that sound abrupt or unnatural. That being said, some of these transitions sound smoother on repeated listens, after acclimatizing to the band's sound. It’s by no means a deal breaker, though. The band set a high bar for themselves and sometimes don’t reach it and it keeps a good album from greatness.
In a crowded death, doom, and stoner metal space, Pan do things a bit different, and should be celebrated. Adventurous headbangers, don't miss out on The Boreal Coast.