Pyramaze - Melancholy Beast (2004) [Japanese Edition]

If one took a survey for a phrase association with the year 2004 and the genre power metal, the two most common responses would probably be “excessive speed” or “AOR imitation”. While this wasn’t necessarily the absolute rule of every band at this point and time, the prominence of Dragonforce and Masterplan at the time, setting aside the massive increase in commercial exposure that came for both a few years later, should definitely not be played down. But amidst all of this stylistic evolution, and the rising tide of power/progressive hybrid acts like Pagan’s Mind and Communic, finding a straight up power metal album that wasn’t either lackluster of derivative was a chore.

Pyramaze could be seen as a 4th way in some respects, with regards to the power metal paradigm at this point, as they lay somewhere between the progressive tinged characteristics of the Pagan’s Mind crowd, and the orthodoxy of older USPM and traditional bands. The presence of microphone veteran Lance King is the most auspicious case of the latter category, as he brings a vocal persona that is heavily comparable to original Fates Warning front man John Arch, and coated with traces of Geoff Tate here and there. Combined with a balanced mixture of old styled riffing, straight up songwriting, and a few well placed time changes and atmospheric twists, “Melancholy Beast” provides a much needed reminder that power metal isn’t stagnant nor an attempt to compete with mainstream pop/rock.

As a whole, this album differs from the two that came after and doesn’t go the concept route, but instead offers up 9 fantasy-laden musical short stories of varying length, many of them paying homage to well known films and books. Unlike the prototypical European sound which is underscored by a sense of heroic triumph and optimism, this overarching character of this album is woeful and, at times, fatalistic. There is a sense of slowness and a dream-like aura that hangs over even the faster songs on here like “Forsaken Kingdom” and “Power Of Imagination”, painting over the chunky riffing and streaming double bass beats with a set of melancholy vocal melodies that sends chills down the spine. It’s a similar experience to that achieved on a few songs on Olympos Mons’ debut (which came out around the same time as this), only with even less Helloween influences.

This album pretty well excels at every avenue that it explores; expressing a sort of complex simplicity that entices the ears like a lullaby yet pounds them into submission like a club. This album’s musical take on Tim Burton’s dramatization of “Sleepy Hollow” and the long scale retelling of the 80s fantasy film “Legend” forge together heartfelt chorus themes with a thick, crunchy set of grooves that effectively reminisce the darker points of both movies. The token ballad “Until We Fade Away” offers a poignant keyboard and vocal performance that is hard not to break out the lighter to, even when you’re the only one in the room. Even the sub-1 minute prelude “The Nature Of Triumph” lends itself to an emotional reflection as Johan Weingarten splices simply ambient melodies and harpsichord lines together into a tight little mini-epic.

In the days of “Sonic Firestorm”, “Aeronautics” and “Enigmatic: The Calling”, this really did offer a fine alternative that incorporated some elements of all, yet stuck to its own way of doing things. It is held back a little bit by a mostly formulaic structure and a slight tendency at going a little longer on some of these songs than necessary, but it is barely noticeable. Although Pyramaze would hit their historic high point thus far with the follow up “Legend Of The Bone Carver”, “Melancholy Beast” is just barely behind it in terms of quality. Lance King definitely picks his projects well, and this is yet another fine example of why he’s lasted in this business a lot longer than most.

by hells_unicorn, metal-archives.com