Driven by indie longstanders The Autumns' mainman Matthew Kelly, Pyramids jumped into the scene this year with their self-titled debut. Part blissed-out shoegaze vocals and shimmering walls of texture, part blackened nightmare and unrelenting drums, Pyramids occupy an indie niche of metal that hasn't been particularly capitalized on. Their sound is, as I like to think of it, that of heat-sickness. The dry, ethereal, perturbed sound evokes the discomforted agitation of sleepless summer nights. Surging, distant guitars fight through weightless waves of heatstroke. And, on another plane of awareness, drums pound like feet on the unyielding ground.
Is it a one-trick pony? Yeah, basically. Much like their now defunct soul-sisters The Angelic Process, Pyramids use heavy delay and glowing distortion to craft simple music into something far beyond the sum of the parts. In fact, if you found yourself enveloped by the caress of The Angelic Process, this will most likely do you some good. If you found yourself bored to tears, I'll go ahead and wager you'll feel the same here.
There's a second disc of remakes by other Hydrahead artists that comes with the album, but, even barring my inherent dislike of remixes, there's not a lot to talk about here. It feels rather redundant to have offerings done by such groups as Nadja and Blut Aus Nord due to the similarities already present in the music. Oh well, I guess it was a nice thought, and it's not like it costed extra.
Verdict: Win [4/5] (metal ambience)
http://www.myspace.com/pyramidsmusic
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