(((((OPENmind/SATURATEDbrain))))): PYRAMIDS

Monday, 11 July 2016

PYRAMIDS

Band: PYRAMIDS

Genres: Punk / Hardcore / Emo / Screamo / Skramz
Related artists: In First Person, Joshua Fit For Battle, Welcome The Plague Year, A Petal Fallen and Take Down Your Art.
Country: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA
Years Active: 2005-2008
Song: "Stationed"
Album: "Following the Tracks, Forcing Motion Through Phases"
Year: 2006
For fans of: Funeral Diner, ...Who Calls So Loud, Off Minor, Sleeper Wave, Ken Burns, Kidcrash, People's Temple Project, City Of Caterpillar, Coma Regalia, The Fiction, Todos Caerán, Portraits Of Past, Lonely Animals, Montcalm, The Last Forty Seconds, Apostles Of Eris, Altar Of Complaints, Vi Som Älskade Varandra Så Mycket, Maximillian Colby, Cease Upon The Capitol, Envy and Circle Takes The Square aka PROPER SCREAMO.

Label(s): Slave Union / Paramnesia Records / Protagonist Music / Wheresthatdeerhead? / Sons Of Vesta / Tumorati Di Dio Records
This post's artist is from the June 2016 Mix. This is track #9.

You can download: the July Mix#7 right here or get the new August 2016 Mix#8 here.

Not to be confused with Hydra Head Records' Pyramids who made experimental metal music, this Philadelphia screamy hardcore band named PYRAMIDS sounded very much like, and almost as good as, Funeral Diner, ...Who Calls So Loud, City Of Caterpillar and Coma Regalia. Oh, and a member also played in In First Person, Joshua Fit For Battle, Welcome The Plague Year, A Petal Fallen and Take Down Your Art, so there's that, too. I shit you not. Please continue.

In 2006 the band released 'Following the Tracks, Forcing Motion Through Phases' and their early work bears many resemblances to both (screamo band) and Circle Takes The Square. "Stationed" has a screamy and aggressive opening that chills out and goes all Funeral Diner and The Fiction at 1:13 with dual vocals and beautifully written and placed guitars that are pure euphoria. The both dreamy and screamy aspects of the song rise and fall much like City Of Caterpillar, as the guitars take numerous swirling effects, the one that begins at about 3:28 and carries the song, collecting additional weight with each passing second. At 4:14 the climbing comes to an end somewhere in the clouds on a goddamn mystic dragon. Yep. "Sleep Spindles and K-Complexes" is a primarily instrumental jam that could be amazing music as a movie soundtrack and likened to Godspeed, You! Black Emperor, Pelican and Envy It eclipses the 9-minute mark, with the dual vocals making an appearance at around six minutes in and the song detonating after seven minutes, only to be led out by sweet, serenading late 90s sounding emo like Montcalm and The Last Forty Seconds. "Slow Wave" opens with almost two minutes of eerie, circular guitar riffing and tribal drums. At exactly 1:59 the phenomenal and very jazzy slowdown takes hold of the song, which makes the entire final three minutes sound like Off Minor, no joke. "Paradoxical" is a shorter jam as it barely surpasses the three-minute mark, but it is able to effectively harness the serene and ambient whilst following it with a violent and screamy closing half. The closer "Lucid" has some sugary sweet chorded bass that opens the song and leads way to a very driving and commanding lead guitar riff which weaves in and out, making this a blueprint for progressive, emotional and screamy hardcore, much like the preceding six songs and debut album as a whole. Also released in 2006 on the 'Emo Apocalypse' compilation was the 30-seconds of bass ridiculousness also known as "Tapestries".

'Through the Hourglass' is a stellar sophomore record and was released the following year in 2007. Opener "Eyelids of Time" sounds very progressive in its approach compared to their previous dreamy, screamy hardcore, as this includes even more prominent bass and a post-hardcore vibe that isn't far from Fugazi territory. By the halfway point of this opener the screaming swings back in and sounds very much like Seth of Funeral Diner and Shawn of Coma Regalia. "Clockwork" follows with nearly six minutes saturated with webs of chorded basslines and dreamy guitars, with a fantastic distorted and atmospheric riff that permeates everything at 3:18. Wowza. "The Crow" is a short instrumental interlude that leads nicely into "Stasis", which follows the relatively standard formula of the record - which is a mixture of ...Who Calls So Loud and Coma Regalia dreamy, screamy hardcore. "Entropic" is a quick blow to the head at 1:43 and brings a caustic mystique not unlike Vi Som Älskade Varandra Så Mycket and Cease Upon The Capitol. The should-be closer "Two Eternities" is the epic focal point of the record that tips just over the 8-minute mark and first takes a stranglehold at about 2:10. After meandering Maximillian Colby-style for another few minutes they come back swinging at 4:33 with both heavy parts sounding very much like later Off Minor material. The final three and a half minutes are beautifully orchestrated dark and brooding hardcore that swells and finally collapses in upon itself like a slow motion supernova at 7:05.

The 'Violent Breakfast split' 10" houses the band's final recordings, with two of the three songs being excellent. The opener "Ashen" is a pulsating and rhythmic journey through treacherous screamy hardcore and could be very well likened to Portraits Of Past's LP material, while the closer "Rise With the Smoke" is a dissonant clusterfuck of climactic noise and time-bending chords that bring to mind Funeral Diner, ...Who Calls So Loud and Todos Caerán.

It's also come to my attention that PYRAMIDS has released a two-song EP and five-song EP on their bandcamp page here. 'Secrets' has Larry from Joshua Fit For Battle and Welcome The Plague Year and is very cool, while the much longer 'Unreleased' material is also excellent with the songs "Happenings and Happenstance", "Dusted" and "Waking" all being exceptional.

This was a special band that actually lives up to the For fans of section above. Never forget PYRAMIDS, the epic screamo band from Philly.

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DISCOGRAPHY
Click )==>here<==( to download the band's complete discography in wma/mp3 form.

2006 - Following the Tracks, Forcing Motion Through Phases cd/12"LP
2006 - Emo Apocalypse 12" compilation (contributed "Tapestries")

2007 - Through the Hourglass cd/cassetteLP

2008 - Violent Breakfast split 10"EP

2011 - Secrets digitalEP

2012 - Unreleased digitalEP

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(2006) PYRAMIDS - "Stationed" (from 'Following the Tracks, Forcing Motion Through Phases')