Pyramaze
Melancholy Beast

After listening to bands like Wuthering Heights, Royal Hunt, and Manticora, all hailing from Denmark, I sought to delve deeper into that nation's metal while remaining tied to the sounds of the aforementioned groups. In doing so, I stumbled upon Pyramaze, formed in Hjordkaer in 2001 by guitarist Michael Kammeyer. Subsequently, they were joined by Morten Sørensen, drummer of compatriots Wuthering Heights, and bassist Niels Kvist. The singer was found in the clean voice of Lance King.

Pyramaze is part of that new wave of power/progressive characterized by perfect recording, powerful guitars at the forefront, and keyboards in the background to render a more "sci-fi" atmosphere. I am a "fanatic" of this genre, having grown up with bands such as Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, Helloween, Gamma Ray, Fates Warning, Stratovarius (the early ones). Yet despite my closeness to this type of music, I am aware of the absolute degradation it suffers nowadays. After "Nightfall in middle earth," the difficulties multiplied, perhaps due to the awareness of not being able to match an album of that magnitude. The Danes, midway between Demons & Wizards, Iced Earth, and Helloween, in their formula revisit a genre that, aside from a few interesting touches, can be considered defunct. In 2004, "Melancholy Beast" saw the light, even though it is more accurate to state that from its birth, it has always lived between light and shadows. The real problem lies in making substantial changes to the way the music is played and presented: if they continue with the same old tune, the 4 or 5 worthwhile songs are not enough to keep albums afloat, although they probably serve to economically save various bands. This way, we will always end up with the same offerings and the same music.

"Melancholy Beast," beyond its intrinsic value, made me think exactly of this, which is probably the gravest problem of power and related genres. In Pyramaze's debut album, the technical skill is evident, especially regarding sound quality, ensuring a good musical performance. One might expect greater speed of execution, but the combination of melody and aggressiveness works well, especially in the title track and in the excellent "The Journey", "Mighty Abyss", and the concluding "Power of Imagination". All good examples of modern and well-played power/progressive, while the remaining tracks, though excellently played, don't register particularly noteworthy highlights. This indeed represents one of the issues that have characterized the genre for over 15 years: the inability to capture attention because many of the things heard have already been heard before. Ideas are recycled, reused, and therefore are less solid than the originals. It's a bit of a vicious cycle. Will there ever be a way out?

1. "Sleepy Hollow" (6:11)
2. "Forsaken Kingdom" (5:28)
3. "Melancholy Beast" (6:11)
4. "The Journey" (5:47)
5. "Until We Fade Away" (4:36)
6. "Legend" (7:11)
7. "Mighty Abyss" (8:04)
8. "The Nature Of Triumph" (0:50)
9. "Power Of Imagination" (6:29)