Pyramaze
Deciples of the Sun

Danish Pyramaze are back, for anyone who remembers the past we did review the band’s latest album back in 2008. With seven years past since then it is fair to believe that they have evolved slightly and hopefully managed to find the way out of the maze they have been stuck in for their first three albums. They have a new singer compared to last time and more years of experience as well as a new set of songs. This new album is their fourth and it is called Deciples of the Sun, it has an attractive cover artwork so at least it looks more exciting than the latest album did. I must say though that this band, considering how I felt about their previous albums, didn’t do much to peak my interest but at the same time it is always fun to revisit old bands and see if their new stuff is any improvement over what they have done in the past. So how about these guys, is it the same dull stuff or have they finally found their feet?

Musically it is progressive metal as it was before, progressive metal with plenty of energy and emotion. The singer kicks the ass of the vocals from the previous albums so hard that it is being heard and felt all the way here to the north of Sweden – which means that they now have great vocals. And the production is excellent, they have good depth in their songs and this album contains eleven of these songs – and an intro. There is a good variation over the songs on the album and the playing time is fairly sensible with around fifty minutes of music. They haven’t fallen into any of the traps that many progressive metal bands fall into, they haven’t gone down the complexity routs because while they do have complex elements, their music is still quite simplistic and easy to understand for those who aren’t that deep into the progressive genre. And they keep both the songs and the album fairly short and to the point, that means that both the songs and the albums are well kept in check concerning playing time.

This may well be the biggest positive surprise of the year; I had not expected this band making such a brilliant album. Sure, there were indications that they were slowly navigating their way through the maze towards something better on their latest album but still, this is so much better than I could have imagined. These Danes are all of a sudden finding themselves at the sharp end amongst the progressive metal bands from Scandinavia and this is one of the stronger albums I have heard so far this year, at least within the genre. If that isn’t a surprise then I don’t know what is.

All the songs on this album are very good but there are some that stand out a little bit; I would say that the best song on the album is the fourth track Back for More which not only has a great chorus but also shines very brightly on all accounts. Then I would also add that the title track along with Genetic Process are two other tracks that shine quite a bit. So in the end I think we can nominate Deciples of the sun to the Positive Surprise of the Year Award and it is with great joy I can finally recommend an album by Pyramaze to all metal fans who read our publication.

HHHHHHH