Black Pyramid – 7″ 2008

Holy shit!!! Or should that be Holy Mountain!!! Where did this little beauty come from? These 7 inches of doom from Black Pyramid (featuring members of the now defunct Artemus Pyledriver and Palace in Thunderland) dropped onto my turntable like a slab of lead. I’m going to have a job getting it back off there…in fact I don’t think I’ll bother!!!

The first thing I should say is this record makes a lot more sense if you listen to the A side first as the continuity of the two tracks works so much better in that order. This is almost like a late night smoking session as it plunders its Sleepesque grooves for all it’s worth.

Side A weighs in with “Visions of Gehenna”. With its Dragonaut vibe this is a mighty wall of riff heaven. This is like getting back from the pub at 11pm with a gang of mates and firing up the bong, the riffs and melodies tumbling around each other like a pair of gay sumo wrestlers. So many bands try their hand at this rolling style of smoked out doom but few match the sheer awesomeness of this, and what’s more it’s catchy as Typhoid in a Victorian slum. In a genre that tends to focus on heaviness and atmosphere so often the song gets forgotten, not here though. There is a melodic suss running through both these tracks that jumps on your back and screams in your ear like a demented monkey.

Side B track “Caravan” brings the party on to 3am. The Doritos have all run out, the air is thick with smoke and the hardcore few continue to blaze away while the majority have passed out. This is a less immediate track than the flip side, starting from a mellow intro and building into a tumbling guitar/vocal melody. This reminds me in some way of some of Bathory’s more mellow work around the time on “Hammerheart”…only with a far stronger vocal style. Where this tune may not grab you as quickly as its predecessor it does build impressively into a rolling behemoth of fuzzed out riffage that marks this as the most adventurous of the two songs and repeated listens may mark this out as the slow burn classic on this particular piece of plastic.

My only complaint here, as with any 7” release, is that 2 tracks just aren’t enough. It only just gets going before it’s over…it’s like having the best wank of your life but getting disturbed before the big finale!!! If Electric Earth Records keep finding little gems like this then they’re on to a winner. There aren’t too many of these out there…100 copies in white and 400 in black vinyl I believe so get in there quick then pray for an album.

Label: Electric Earth
Website: www.myspace.com/blackpyramidkills

Scribed by: Ollie Stygall