PYRAMAZE

Norwegian Terje Haroy has a solid, old-fashioned metal voice, strong and formidable without being too eccentric or growly. Track 12 features vocalist Kristen Foss and a softer tone, providing a nice change of pace. The music is energetic and hopeful. Highly recommended for power/prog metal fans. 4 stars.

Epitaph is the classic album packed with potential singles - anthems with big, soaring choruses that are instantly likeable and tend to stay with the listener long after the needle has left the grooves. I find that this songwriting approach - all centered around the big choruses - often backfires, as the overemphasized choruses tend to suck the life out the songs due to structures and arrangements that are oversimplified and geared mostly to providing support to the chorus melody. The result is music that may be catchy on first listen, but has almost zero long-term listening value. Fortunately, Pyramaze have been around long enough to know better. Although in various places they flirt with pop-metal influences (the single "Particle" is a primary example), their songwriting is well balanced and firmly rooted in the progressive/power metal tradition, which allows them to escape the pitfalls suffered by many other contemporary melodic pop-metal acts (countrymen Defecto, for example).

Partly, the merits of this lie in the fantastic symphonic arrangements that flourish throughout the album. Keyboardist Jonah Weingarten really shines here, moving at ease between lush orchestral parts and delicate piano arpeggios. With the guitars largely relegated to a rhythmic role (and some occasional solos), the keyboards and orchestrations play really a key role on Epitaph. Another strength of the album lies in the incredibly tasty choice of vocal melodies by singer Terje Harøy: his vocal lines are catchy but never banal or kitschy, which is crucial for achieving the right balance between melodic accessibility and artistic value. His voice might come across as somewhat nondescript (he does not have the immediately recognizable timbre of former Pyramaze's singers Lance King or Matt Barlow), but is very pleasant and is used perfectly in the context of the songs. At times he reminds me of Roy Khan, although with a slightly more AOR / hard rock quality to his voice.

The songs on Epitaph come roughly in three flavors. Most tracks are mid-tempos with a fairly simple structure (verse/chorus/verse) and excellent choruses with soaring vocals. Taken individually, these songs are very pleasant, although they are somewhat less impactful in the context of a full-length, where they are often placed one next to another and tend to blur together somewhat (for instance, the opening sequence "A Stroke of Magic" - "Steal My Crown" - "Knights in Shining Armour"). In the middle, the album switches to a lower gear, with softer pieces like the ballad "Bird of Prey" or the poppy single "Particles". The second half of the album contains the most epic songs and is the strongest. "Transcendence" features an excellent cameo from Unleash the Archers' Brittney Hayes. "Final Hour" is a brisker track, with an oblique guitar riff that wouldn't have disfigured on the latest album by Conception. "World Foregone" is perhaps the best track of the album - very dark and epic, with a gorgeous choral part in the coda, it reminds me of the best pieces written by Evergrey. The pièce de résistance of the album, however, is closing track "The Time Traveller", a complex, multi-part 12 minute tour de force. The biggest surprise here is the guest spot of the two former Pyramaze's singers Lance King and Matt Barlow, who swap vocal duties with Terje Harøy throughout the song. It's a great track and a highlight of the album, although its structure is perhaps a tad too convoluted and the song therefore requires multiple listens to properly sink in.

Overall, Epitaph is a strong album that delivers both in terms of immediate likeability and long-term listening value. This is a rare find in the musical landscape these days and Pyramaze deserve praise for resisting the temptation of playing the melodic card at the expense of content and substance. With soaring melodies, rich symphonic arrangements and darkly epic undertones, Epitaph will appeal to fans of bands like Kamelot, Evergrey and Iced Earth.

(Originally written for The Metal Observer)

Stylistically the material on "Legend of the Bone Carver" is US influenced power metal with omnipresent use of keyboards, which provide the music with a symphonic edge. King is a strong vocalist, with a voice and singing style somewhere between Geoff Tate (Queensrÿche) and Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) (mostly the former), and he is perfect for the material. Having a highly skilled vocalist in your band doesn´t matter much, if the other musicians can´t deliver on a similar high level, but that´s not a problem here, as Pyramaze are an exceptionally well playing band. They master both harder edged riffs and rhythms as well as the more melodic and symphonic sections with ease. It´s not the most dymanic music though and the listener is constantly bombarded with multi-layered choirs and omnipresent keyboards, which on top of the more "regular" heavy metal instrumentation of two guitars, bass, and drums, sometimes result in an almost overwhelming wall of sound. The word subtle does not exist in the world of Pyramaze, and the listener is kept on his/her toes for the duration of the album.

"Legend of the Bone Carver" is a concept album, telling a fantasy tale (which could be inspired by one of the tales of the bible), and the story works well with the epic atmosphere created by the music. The professional, detailed, and powerful sounding production job further enhances the epic nature of the music. This is through and through a high quality release, and fans of harder edged, but still melodic and occasionally symphonic US influenced power metal should find lots to enjoy here. I have one complaint which drags my rating down a slight bit, and that´s the vocal melodies. Or to be more precise how memorable they are or aren´t. Because considering how melodic the material is and how melodic the vocal melodies are, the melodies actually aren´t that memorable, or at least many of the tracks sound a lot a like in that department. Stronger vocal hooks on individual tracks would undoubtedly have made "Legend of the Bone Carver" an even stronger release than it already is but a 3.5 star (70%) rating is still fully deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

But there's an extra bit of polish, a certain extra tightness to the work here, the band gelling just a bit better and wrangling just a little more out of the studio and seeming just a bit more comfortable in their own skin. The end result is a very entertaining piece which won't blow anyone's mind, but is at least a satisfying listen worth more than one spin.

Despite the many lineup changes the music style on "Disciples Of The Sun" is unmistakably the sound of Pyramaze. The change on the vocalist spot of course provides the music with a new sound in the vocal department, but it´s not a radical change, and Terje Harøy is a skilled singer, with a strong commanding delivery, who may not have as distinct sounding a voice as his predecessor, but equals Barlow on just about every other parameter. He is overall a strong addition to the lineup. The music is Euro power metal of the heavier school with loads of keyboards (occasionally neo-classical inspired and quite symphonic), heavy guitar riffs, melodic solos and themes, a strong playing rhythm section, and both melodic and slightly more raw vocals in front (and extensive use of choirs and harmony vocals). The atmosphere is slightly melancholic but above all epic.

The album features a powerful, multi-layered, detailed, and clear sounding production (courtesy of Jacob Hansen), which suits the music well. The music is quite bombastic and loud at times, and while there are only few mellow parts on the album, it´s still a relatively dynamic sounding album.

The material on the 12 track, 52:25 minutes long album is well written and very catchy. Pyramaze both has good compositional understanding when it comes to structures and arrangements, but they also have a rare flair for writing memorable melodies that stick in your mind after only a few spins. So upon conclusion "Disciples Of The Sun" is a high quality release on most important parameters and a welcome comeback for Pyramaze. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

The lineup on "Melancholy Beast" consists of three Danes in founding member Michael Kammeyer on guitars, Morten Gade Sørensen on drums and Niels Kvist on bass. In addition to the three Danes Pyramaze also hosts two Americans in Jonah Weingarten on keyboards (whom Michael Kammeyer met over the internet) and Lance King (formerly of Balance of Power) on vocals. So this is a multinational act even though the backbone of the band is Danish.

The music on "Melancholy Beast" is melodic heavy metal/ power metal with lots of keyboards, high pitched vocals, anthemic choruses, a tight rythm section which includes lots of double bass drums and some pretty heavy guitars. The first impression is that it´s "business as usual" power metal. So it very much comes down to the how well the tracks are crafted and the interplay between the musicians. In that department there´s nothing wrong with "Melancholy Beast". This is a very well composed heavy metal/ power metal album and Pyramaze have a distinct and greatly skilled vocalist in Lance King. He´s got a sligth Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) vibe to his vocals that I greatly enjoy. He can sing both soft and pretty raw. A great asset to the band´s sound. Another great feature is the guitar and keyboard solos that are really well played.

The production by Jacob Hansen is professional, powerful and suits the material well.

"Melancholy Beast" is a solid heavy metal/ power metal album and while it certainly isn´t a revelation in any way it´s still an enjoyable release deserving a 3.5 star rating.