[3] As such, What We All Come to Need eschews some of the joyous aspects of Pelican's music, adopting a dark tone that would be further explored in the band's followup album, Forever Becoming (2013).

Pelican enlisted several guest musicians to contribute to the album, including guitarists Greg Anderson of Sunn O))) and Aaron Turner of Isis, and, most notably, vocalist Allen Epley of The Life and Times and Shiner.

The one-night-only dish consisted of a ten-ounce Kobe beef patty, with pan-seared scallops and lardons, in a garlic white-wine sauce on top of a Parmesan crisp, and served with white wine–garlic aioli.

[8] AllMusic reviewer Thom Jurker praised the album, writing, "This is still insanely large-sounding music, and is heavy in the extreme, but its new tenets give listeners more to hold on (and perhaps dream on) than simply low-tuned, ponderous riffing.

[13] Writing for PopMatters, Andrew Dietzel said, "[the album] is balance and perspective before death, and Pelican provides that with perfect precision.

"[7] In a more lukewarm review, Pitchfork writer Cosmo Lee criticized how the album was instrumental, saying that the band was held back by not incorporating a vocalist.