Pyramid – 'Rage': An album with interesting elements

We listened to the latest release from Pyramid titled 'Rage'. The album is influenced by progressive metal, while also carrying plenty of other touches.

The Pyramid managed to pull off something that I think few bands are capable of pulling off. “Rage” is a release that runs well over an hour. And while anything over an hour usually tends to just become bloated and boring, this particular album stays interesting right up to the very last minute.

An American progressive metal supergroup

Then again, maybe that's kind of to be expected. The Pyramid is an American progressive metal supergroup, created by Lance Sawyer. On the record, some of the scene's biggest talents and personalities take part. Musicians such as Tim Ripper Owens (formerly Judas Priest, ex-IcedEarth, among others), Andry Lagiou (The Harps), Harry Conklin “The Tyrant” (Jag Panzer) on vocals, Mike Abdow (Fates Warning) on guitars and Chris Quirarte (Redemption) on drums, and Adam Bentley (Arch Echo) guitars and mixing engineer, Joey Izzo (Arch Echo) on keyboards and Perrine Missemer on violin.

"Rage" sounds exactly like what you'd expect from such a band. Pyramid compose and present an album that's primarily progressive metal with strong power metal influences, a combination that, let's be honest, never fails. Especially when the members are such accomplished artists in the field, this particular mix of ideas can only produce memorable and top-notch results.

An epic aura

Complex and intricate rhythmic sections that pair top-notch technical skill with musicality, epic power metal riffs full of speed and intensity, but also tremendous vocal lines with a "bright" character, make up the general framework of "Rage". On the album there are also some purer heavy metal passages, like on the track "Rage" where some N.W.O.B.H.M ideas can be heard, while on this particular track the beautiful, melodic acoustic intro also stands out.

And while, as I already said, the whole record is an excellent work with no bad track on it, one manages to steal the show and that's none other than "Dungeons and Dragons". It's a 20-minute, primarily power metal song inspired by the famous game. Epic right down to the last minute, heavy, fast, but at the same time also melodic with a really nice instrumental section, "Dungeons and Dragons" closes out and rounds off the record perfectly.