Black Pyramid – II
Everyone knows the adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Overused to the point of indifference, it’s much like a drunk Thai hooker at a Delta Kappa Omega “Kegs and Eggs” party.
The Catcher in the Rye is a good example: It’s pretty much a blank white cover (at least it was when I was in school) with ordinary typeface that screams “This sucks!” at the top of its lungs. And what the hell is a catcher in the rye, anyway? A gay dude living in a Spanish farmhouse? However, it’s an excellent novel when one takes the time to read it, and you’ll even find out that the title in context isn’t weird at all.
Just like a book, an album cover can sometimes be judged accurately, though, by the title and cover art. An album like, um, I dunno, Serial Butcher’s A Crash Course in Cranium Crushing for example. One look at the artwork, let alone skimming the track list, and you pretty much know what to expect as you run to the toilet just in time to barf up putrid chunks of your Big Mac Value Meal.
Black Pyramid’s new release, II, will throw new initiates for a proverbial loop: The band’s name sounds… well, black; the album cover looks like a psychedelic Hindu god; and the song titles could have easily come from Aerosmith’s “Kings and Queens” single.
Black Pyramid is a Massachusetts doom/sludge band consisting of Darryl Shepard (vocals, guitars), Clay Neely (drums), and Gein (bass). Shepard replaced vocalist/guitarist Andy Beresky, though, shortly after the recording of II.
Beresky said that he was listening to Manilla Road’s Crystal Logic album a lot while composing the songs on II. That could be part of the reason why this new album is so out of whack; the compositions seem as if the members are still going through the brainstorming stage to come up with something beyond doom/sludge. The first five tracks demonstrate this, especially “Endless Agony” and “Mercy’s Bane.”
The 12-minute epic (?) “Dreams of the Dead” goes on way too long, like a lumbering elephant that refuses to go down even though a tranquilizer dart is stuck in its ass. There’s even a cringe-inducing blues solo dropped in the middle. If Scott Stapp (Creed) owned an apartment building, this tune would be playing in the elevators. I found myself picking lint from between my toes while listening to this track.
I honestly couldn’t figure out if Black Pyramid are trying to be gimmicky power metal like Running Wild, straight-up swords-and-sorcery like Dio, or sludgy and doomy like Black Sabbath and Trouble. Listen to “Dreams of the Dead” to see what I mean. II is an uneasy mix of genres: bricks, stones, and chunks of concrete held together by Elmer’s glue instead of mortar.
The best and most focused song on II is “Sons of Chaos.” The guys are firing on all cylinders with this ballsy, frenetic, thrashy composition. Unfortunately, this is the only moment where Black Pyramid seem alive and hungry enough to throw their hearts and souls into their new material. And the thing is, they’re not trying to reinvent themselves on this track. That’s why it works. They’re merely playing their brand of sludge with intensity and feeling, unlike the aimless first half of the record.
On “Into the Dawn,” the band comes together and seems to achieve a hint of sludge/doom/power/psychedelic/(insert sub-genre). The vocals are only during the first part of the 15-minute song, though. The rest of the track dissolves into patchwork pieces of repetitive instrumental sections.
If you’re a music fan that likes your metal thick and gooey like a cup of Baskin-Robbins hot fudge without the ice cream, then I would recommend Black Pyramid’s brutal, more focused Black Sabbath-y 2009 full-length effort. II is Black Pyramid at a three-pronged fork in the road, and each member seems to be heading down a different path, unsuccessfully trying to pull the others along.
Hopefully Black Pyramid will find what they’re looking for with Shepard now on board, but who knows. We’ll have to wait for the next book before we can judge.
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7 Comments
January 26th, 2012 at 8:52 pm
Catcher in the Rye was the worst book I have ever read (excluding Sign of the Beaver)….And yes, I have read many. The lack of intelligence in Holden was almost frightening. He seriously asked if someone in a truck comes to central park in the winter to collect the ducks. Also, the fact that J.D. Salinger wrote that there were 10 sinks in the bathroom, and Holden went to the middle one makes me wonder if he was mentally impaired….. Really? Can you freaking count? I apologize for the rant…. I understand what you were getting at
lol. Good review, seems fair.
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January 26th, 2012 at 11:53 pm
Yeah, Holden was a messed-up kid. I’m really glad he didn’t off himself, though.
Oops, I’d better cut our literature circle short before Jen comes by and smacks me in the back with her bamboo pole. They run a tight ship around here.
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January 28th, 2012 at 9:55 am
Excellent review, I couldn’t agree more with most of your points. There really was no heart on soul on much of this material at all; I simply did not care at this point, and just wanted to finish it and be done, Gein didn’t even bother learning any of the songs prior to showing up to record, and reacted with indignation when he was forced to redo them, and they still were played terribly. Clay’s drums are for the most part Pro-Tooled into an emotionless void. I was quite sick of just about every genre at the time I was writing this material, and really cared very little to try to fit into any, ESPECIALLY the boring, stale things known as “stoner” and “doom.” I am glad that there are people picking this up instead of simply hailing II as this “genius masterpiece”, as the hype machine would have you believe. It makes me happy that there are still people out there who can listen critically, and are not afraid to be honest about what they actually hear, in the face of all the mindless hyperbole that most reviewers throw around to simply jump on the latest bandwagon and inflate their own egos. Keep calling them like you see them, this album was just not very well executed, one of many reasons I am infinitely happy to be disassociated from the band.
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January 28th, 2012 at 7:16 pm
Andy, I appreciate your response. I hope you are able to find happiness in future projects. Please feel free to drop us a line sometime to let us know how you’re doing!
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January 29th, 2012 at 1:00 pm
The drummer Clay produced my band’s EP, he’s a really awesome guy. Good at recording bands, but I haven’t listened much to his band
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February 18th, 2012 at 12:12 am
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Chad Kallauner replied:
February 22nd, 2012 at 3:46 pm
You must be the same Warble responsible for the atrocious Black Pyramid cover “art.” I suppose that explains your rant since you have a vested interest in the band and all.
Actually, your rambling comment isn’t even worthy of a response, so just go away.
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