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74 posts since 1/31/2009
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Posted on 6/13/2009 at 8:46:07 AM
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Black Pyramid - Black PyramidReview by JJ Koczan (StonerRock.com) MeteorCity Release date: April 2009 Massachusetts doomers Black Pyramid meet at the point of the road whereby the venerated riffs of Sleep cross paths with the modern beastly aesthetic that has come to replace the boogie vans and pot references as the go-to subject matter for new school stoner metal. Guitarist/vocalist Andy Beresky has a voice caught between a gruff and clean delivery that sounds like it’s coming right out of the side of his mouth as he describes his plot to “kill the Sagittarius” on “Visions of Gehenna” – track two of nine following the intro “…And the Gods Made War” – and the mission of heralding the genre’s past while marching it into the future is clear. Black Pyramid is next gen stoner (whatever wave we’re up to now - I can’t keep count). The swaying-ship (or swinging beer stein, if you prefer) rhythm of “Mirror Messiah” plays a big part in the catchiness of the song, marked by drummer Clay Neely’s tight but not patently technical s t y l e. Unlike many percussionists of the post-Brann Dailor era, Neely doesn’t overdo it and is able to sit back and ride the groove, bringing capable bassist Gein along in good measure. Unlike their most obvious comparison point – Sleep – Black Pyramid sound cohesive and not loose or overtly jammy. Beresky isn’t necessarily a shredder when it comes to leads, but on “Mirror Messiah” he gives a good showing, and the ending segment of the song benefits strongly from his memorable lead lines. As Black Pyramid unfolds, the band reveals an affection for long instrumental passages – not uncommon for acts in which each member plays an instrument. “No Life King,” another strong piece, shorter and somewhat more straightforwardly driven drum-wise, opens up at two minutes and gives room only for a brief vocal return at the end. Instrumental interlude “Celephais” introduces acoustic guitars which will pop up again later to great effect, and serves well to break up the proceedings and separate sides A and B of the album. Beresky brings The Heavy almost immediately back into play on “Twilight Grave,” however, setting a classically doom tone for the closing trio of tracks, all of which stand tall above seven minutes. The Obsessed has been mentioned as a comparison point, and I agree. That older school fetish makes itself most apparent, however, on “The Worm Ouroboros,” which nods at Pentagram en route to a strong repurposing of the central riff of Black Sabbath’s “Behind the Wall of Sleep,” and later, the closing one of “War Pigs.” Despite the transparency of these influences, holding the copping of Sabbath riffs against a doom band is like holding breathing underwater against a fish. That’s just the way it goes, and with another short solo, Beresky helps put an individual stamp on the song, leading into the more complex run of “The Cauldron Born,” with an early High on Fire-type vocal and general progression. At its end, the track gives itself over to doom crashes, but is generally among the fastest and most active on Black Pyramid, showing some band dynamics and that there’s more to them than just contented stoner mediocrity. Though, admittedly, that’s well established by then. Closer “Wintermute” employs a more outright contemptuous lyrical approach – see the line, “I will hate you all until the stars decay” – that couples unexpectedly well with the aforementioned return of the acoustic guitar. They make the most of the album’s final moments and hone another song more squarely their own – another unique lead line from Beresky at 5:30 in a desert-esque tone – leaving the audience with the thought of and expectation for greater things to come. Still, for the stable and (some say) growing market for stoner metal, Black Pyramid offers plenty in realms both familiar and only vaguely previously explored. This is the path stoner metal is treading in 2009, and Black Pyramid leave some heavy footprints with this label debut.
URL: http://www.myspace.com/blackpyramidkills
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55,337 posts since 7/17/2002
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Posted on 6/13/2009 at 8:47:47 AM
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So fucking psyched this album's a success. Andy's last band, Palace in Thunderland, was textbook underrated, but those of us in the know knew he was great a writing songs. Black Pyramid continues that trend. Fuckin' A, good job, man. Oh, and available at All That Is Heavy
URL: http://www.allthatisheavy.com
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I`m never going to work another day in my life
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455 posts since 11/11/2008
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Posted on 6/15/2009 at 7:42:35 AM
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Yeah palace in thunderland was a great band that didn't get their due. Black Pyramid is just as good, well actually better in my opinion, so hopefully they get the recognition they deserve.
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Chewbacca in drag wearing scuba gear!!!
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520 posts since 11/12/2008
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Posted on 6/16/2009 at 3:07:39 PM
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Looking forward to playing this one on my turntable
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4,260 posts since 11/2/2005
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Posted on 6/18/2009 at 7:51:03 PM
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H.P. thats a great write up for a really strong disc. Love to see;m some time.
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"some thrash to remember, some thrash to forget".- Kant
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12 posts since 2/5/2007
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Posted on 6/20/2009 at 7:11:14 AM
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Great show last night at the cemetary guys. Late start but you guys sounded awesome live. Look forward to seeing you again.
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14,897 posts since 10/24/2000
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Posted on 6/20/2009 at 12:03:28 PM
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Thanks man, and thanks for not only coming out, but sticking around. Late start indeed...
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If you`re hungry, why not try a piece of your friend?
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7,388 posts since 11/24/1999
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Posted on 6/24/2009 at 1:23:51 PM
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From Crucial Blast:
Meteorcity isn't stopping with Elder when it comes to mining the post-Sleep quadrant of the American doom underground, as this new release from Black Pyramid will attest. This trio is also from the New England area that Elder hails from, rising from the residue of bands like Palace In Thunderland and Artimus Pyledriver, and they bring out the big Sabbathoid riffs and stoned, chantlike singing on their debut full length, complete with dark psychedelic album art, mystical overtones and lyrics about Witchlords and "hordes of death" and the Black Cauldron, which suggests that Black Pyramid take alot of their lyrical inspiration from the old fantasy series Chronicles of Prydain. There's no mistaking the influence that the legendary Sleep has had on Black Pyramid's crushing doom, with massive downtuned droning riffs and thick syrupy guitars, but these guys also inject a large amount of classic heavy metal and psychedelia into their sound. Also like Elder, these guys are gifted when it comes to creating awesome riffs, which is pretty crucial if you are going to try to drop an album of this brand of doom on us in 2009, and the nine songs on this disc are alot catchier than your typical Vitus/Sleep clone. Fans of old school American doom are especially going to be drawn to what these guys are doing; alongside the ultraheavy downtuned dirges and creeping Sab riffage, they break out lots of meaty galloping riffs and bluesy grooves and much of the album is pretty rocking, kind of like High On Fire if they were less hooked on thrash and more obsessed with early 80's heavy metal. Singer/guitarist Andy Beresky liberally spreads his drawn out psychedelic solos on songs like "Visions Of Gehenna", and there's some killer proggy noodling that shows up throughout the album as well. It sounds like there's a big Maryland doom influence on Black Pyramid too, like on "Mirror Messiah" where they channel the swinging, bloozy crunch of bands like The Obsessed and Internal Void but with vastly heavier riffage. Nothing happens here that expands the parameters of doom metal, but this album has a solid combination of catchy songs, superheavy riffs, and sprawling spaced-out trippiness that makes it a fucking winner in my book.
The disc comes in a full color digisleeve like the other new Meteorcity releases.
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A period of adjustment is to be expected
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4,908 posts since 7/12/2007
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Posted on 6/24/2009 at 10:36:38 PM
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Please, mr. tiger, do not steal my fine new clothes!
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14,897 posts since 10/24/2000
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Posted on 7/7/2009 at 3:59:53 PM
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New review from The Sleeping Shaman
These guys supported us from the start, and really, more flattering words cannot be uttered. Thanks again guys!
Black Pyramid S/T CD 09
Every once in a while an album lands that is so drenched in power and passion that it almost seems to stop time for its duration. The Black Pyramid 7" released last year on Electric Earth Records was a huge slab of megalithic Sleepesque riffing that pointed towards greater things but I couldn't have anticipated how much further the band would be able to take their sound on their full length debut...
Maybe my initial reaction to listening to this album is the most fitting testament to its effect…this is the email I sent to Lee immediately after listening to it for the first time.
"Dude...Holy f**king sweet Jesus Christ!!! How awesome is the Black Pyramid album!!!! I was listening to it in the car this morning on my way to work and I was wishing that I lived further away so I could listen to it again!!! It definitely has a bit of a Sleep vibe going on but it actually makes Holy Mountain sound sloppy and amateur. Some of the melodies are literally breathtaking, I could feel my heart going as I was listening to it but the whole thing is as heavy as f**k. It made me want to climb the highest Tor on Dartmoor with a big ass ghetto blaster and crank the hell out of it while being lashed by the wind and rain!!! Stunning stuff mate, you've really spoilt me this year with Firebird, Catapault the Smoke and now this...this tops them all!!! I don't even think the Clutch album will better this to be honest, this has album of the year all over it for me!!!"
Yes people, this album is that good…this is the musical equivalent of Stonehenge, the pyramids, the Inca temples, Ayres Rock…etc. It's a towering monument of beauty, power, mystery and magnitude. The juggernaut of riffs betrays influences from medieval folk as much as they do the power of Sabbath. The vocals come from the heart and rasp the throat on their way out. Everything about this entire album is perfect…the song writing, the playing, the production, the cover…the list goes on and try as I might I just can't find fault, in fact it just keeps getting better!!! I am literally struggling to say any more about this as it defies my grasp of the English language!!!
Album of the year? Almost certainly. Will they have problems topping this with album number two? I certainly hope not.
Mesmerising, crushing and beautiful…buy it now, then buy copies for all your friend
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If you`re hungry, why not try a piece of your friend?
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16,046 posts since 4/11/2002
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Posted on 7/7/2009 at 5:17:15 PM
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This will be in my next ATiH order.
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"LIGHTS OUT, MEATBALL!!!"
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17,362 posts since 9/30/2006
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Posted on 7/7/2009 at 6:59:23 PM
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A huge slab of megalithic Sleepesque riffing, indeed.
Is MJS off writing reviews now?
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The real in us is silent; the acquired is talkative. - Gibran
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783 posts since 4/27/2006
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Posted on 7/7/2009 at 7:43:58 PM
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From Metal-Rules.com: Black Pyramid Black Pyramid July 2009 Released: 2009, Meteor City Records Rating: 4.0/5 Reviewer: Aaron Yurkiewicz Finally….Finally…FINALLY!!! SOMEBODY GETS IT!!! As a purveyor of all things doom and stoner metal, I’ll be the first to admit that the scene is waaaay overcrowded with sloppy bands that think that the key to a good doom record is lots of bong hits and playing…real…slooooooow. And then a band like Black Pyramid comes along and gives me renewed hope for the genre and for metal in general. The band’s self titled debut combines all of the best elements that you could hope for in a doom album - heavy, rhythmic, groovin’ songs that are both well written and well performed. A power trio from the great state of Massachusetts, Black Pyramid has not only studied diligently from the great book of Black Sabbath, but from bands like Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, Cathedral, and Pentagram as well. There’s definitely an old school doom vibe here that’s immediately recognizable and welcomed. Warm, analog tones and thick fuzzed out guitars are the order of the day here, enveloping the 9 songs on the disc in a smoked out embryo of heaviness. As I listened to the album (again and again), I kept feeling that the riffs, song structure and overall performance here are very Sabbathian, circa MASTER OF REALITY and VOL. 4. But the band manages to capture that classic vibe without sounding plagiaristic - and that friends, is a beautiful thing. “Voices of Gehenna” is the first track after a brief intro, setting the mood just right. Drummer Clay Neely keeps the swinging beats going (a la Bill Ward in his prime) beneath vocalist/guitarist Andy Beresky’s bellow and bass player Gein’s low end distortion. “Mirror Messiah” could have easily been a Cathedral leftover, while “No Life King” has almost a folksy, Celtic inspired gait to it. “The Worm Ouroboros” could possibly be the spiritual successor to “Into the Void,” opening with some jazzy, wah wah drenched hooks before settling into the main groove of the song. “Wintermute” is by far my favorite cut on the disc; a little bit of “Planet Caravan” mixed with a little bit of the Obsessed’s melancholy, the tune is a gut buster that ends in a crescendo of punchy riffs. Like the classic Sabbath albums of the day, BLACK PYRAMID will please a wide audience. Sludgy enough for the staunchest of doom stalwarts, the album has enough rockin’ in general to satisfy more mainstream fans as well. Rather than reinventing the wheel, Black Pyramid has opted to build upon an existing blueprint and make it their own. A solid debut all the way, I can’t wait to hear how the band follows this up.
URL: http://www.metal-rules.com/review/viewreview.php?month=July&year=2009
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1,395 posts since 9/28/2008
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Posted on 7/9/2009 at 2:56:48 AM
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fuckin rifferiffic. Congrats. Very vivid and spot on review as well.
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Guilty of being white
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820 posts since 9/22/2007
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Posted on 7/25/2009 at 5:33:06 PM
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Got it today, 3 tracks in, wow.
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She looks like she does it.
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7,388 posts since 11/24/1999
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Posted on 7/26/2009 at 3:28:20 PM
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A 10/10 REVIEW FROM HELLBOUND.CA: By Gruesome Greg Easily the most coveted album amongst my shipment of MeteorCity new releases. Black Pyramid’s self-titled was one of my most anticipated albums of ’09, and easily my most eagerly awaited debut since the Blood Ceremony record that came out on Rise Above last year. I first heard of this assachusetts-based trio via their 7” on Belgian label Electric Earth, whose owner was kind enough to send me a promo copy. (For what it’s worth, I named it my top EP of ’08 over at THTGIR…) The A Side of said EP is a killer track called “Visions of Gehenna,” which has been rightfully placed at the beginning of the album, following a two-minute instrumental buildup. The intro riff is one of those great slices of stoner doom riffery that belongs up on a pedestal with “Dragonaut” and “Return to Forever”—perhaps the second greatest song of ’08. The instrumental breakdown at the three-minute mark is a choice head-nodder. Hell, the whole song is one of those doomy numbers that makes you wanna bang yer head, not just nod it. A couple songs (and one instrumental interlude later) we get Visions redux in “Twilight Grave,” a song thick with heavy fuzz of the Cisneros/Pike variety. Although “stoner doom” is a term that gets tossed around a lot, I define it as meshing the slow, down-tempo pacing of Sabbath with the bluesy-riff rock of Kyuss, along with resin-stained hoarse vocals singing of mystical creatures and outer space. Sleep had this sound down to a T. So does Black Pyramid. Should the former’s reunion consist of more than a lone festival performance in the UK, MeteorCity should lobby aggressively for the latter to land the opening slot. I would certainly support this initiative. Alas, while Black Pyramid self-titled isn’t quite Holy Mountain Pt. 2, it’s quite possibly the next best thing. If Sleep’s the stuff that makes your bongwater bubble, then Black Pyramid is your new favourite band. Doom’s not dead, not by a mile, and these guys are at the top of the list of New Doom Bands You Gotta Hear! (MeteorCity)
URL: http://www.hellbound.ca/2009/07/black-pyramid-self-titled/
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A period of adjustment is to be expected
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14,897 posts since 10/24/2000
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Posted on 7/28/2009 at 3:35:38 PM
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This review goes up to eleven... This is Black Pyramid's first Long player, the bands from Massachusetts are no strangers to the heavy rock scene with Andy once guitar playing with Palace in Thunderland and Clay plays drums in Artimus Pyledriver. This new record was always going to be well anticipated after such a crushing self-titled 7 inch and some demos. Black Pyramids brand of rock is somewhat frightening taking elements of doom and mixing it with some beautifully arrange psychedelic wizardry. Make no mistake this record has no stone left unturned, whether it's a fast paced high on fire s t y l ed riffs or a bludgeoning of slow down tempo droning fuzz this record has it all. Right from get go the evil haunting psychedelic chant of "...And the Gods Made War" prepares and sets the mood that what lurks, you know it's going to be heavy as fuck! A revamped "Visions of Gehenna" is next and couldn't be more fitting. A slow pumping sleep s t y l ed rumble that pounds and pounds and almost feels like you are drowning in a sea of angst! Suit up take battle and move forward to the "Mirror Messiah" This track has tradition written all over it classic back to roots traditional doom much to the likes of black Sabbath or pentagram. But it's when you reach the 4:30 mark of "Mirror Messiah" that all has hope an uplifting crafty passage of very nice almost psychedelic effect laden riffage then slowly building up to what again is onslaught of heaviness blanketing the skies! "No Life King" Continues is same fashion Crushing powerful riffs big massive bass lines and pounding percussion that seems to never let up a punishing message to the listener that Black Pyramid means war! Black Pyramid gives some grace and put together the well crafted almost resting place song called "Celephais" although not very long it gives you time to gather breathe and relax."Twilight Grace" tends to lead a faster paced vibe, monstrous wall of thick heavy high on fire/electric wizard inspired riffage .Andy's guitar Screams in what I think is stand out track on this record. "The Worm Ouroboros" again leads a path of tradition, a perfect blend of 70's doom. Andy's vocals very reminiscent of classic Ozzy Osbourne, slow and low each riff perfectly implemented showing just how tight these guys are as a band and yet another stand out track on the album."The Cauldron Born" steers you towards end of the record a 7 minute swirling beast with an absolute crushing ending."Wintermute" the last track on the record, it begins acoustically and has a very similar sound to early monster magnet, but soon leads into a very slow down tuned heavy doom riff a simple classy guitar lick keeps this track form sounding monotonous. This track is the perfect ending and completes the album without a doubt. Black Pyramid nailed this album on the head! In a world of doom where bands keep on doing same monotonous boring stuff, Black pyramid are smart they have covered themselves and managed to be able to not pigeon hole there music to one genre. Sure doomsters will eat this up but I think just about anybody who likes there music heavy will enjoy what Black pyramid have delivered. There is no doubt this album tells a story, like it's been carefully planned out and I for one totally enjoyed it and give praise to what they have done. This will for sure be a contender for album of the year, sit back inhale turn off the lights and enjoy this epic awesome record! 11/10 http://www.planetfuzz.net/fuzz.php?action=2&reviewid=2
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If you`re hungry, why not try a piece of your friend?
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6 posts since 7/28/2009
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Posted on 7/29/2009 at 2:02:18 AM
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I'm sorry, but while the riffs on this album are great the vocals just turn me off. Too melodic for the vocalist to handle. He should just stick to a Pike-s t y l e one note roar.
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196 posts since 10/30/2007
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Posted on 7/29/2009 at 9:51:08 AM
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The vocals and the fucking riffs work great for me. Best album I've heard this year so far.
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520 posts since 11/12/2008
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Posted on 7/29/2009 at 12:26:08 PM
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The vocalist actually has his own thing going on, works well w/the band too.
So, is the vinyl a July release that we might get by Oct if we're lucky? (haha. nothing personal, just going by the track record of such releases)
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