Review: Pyramids - A Northern Meadow
By Sam Carroll, Contributor
[Profound Lore; 2015]
Rating: 2/5
Key Tracks: “In Perfect Stillness, I’ve Only Found Sorrow,” “I Am So Sorry, Goodbye”
Pitchfork described one of Pyramids’ songs as “Thom Yorke fronting Pantera." Yorke has a large influence on R. Loren and M. Kraig’s vocal style, but Pantera doesn’t quite describe the Texas band’s sound. Earth would be a better choice.
A Northern Meadow is Pyramids’ sophomore release to its 2008 eponymous debut. The quintet’s maintained its experimental style while incorporating a more metal-driven sound. The final product is abrasive, but has an amateur, unfinished feel compared to its predecessor.
The effort begins with “In Perfect Stillness, I’ve Only Found Sorrow.” The piece can best be described as a cross between Alice in Chains and Morbid Angel. Guitars injected with searing distortion and swirling in reverb create a brooding atmosphere fit for an Odyssean epic. Double-kick drums provide a bombastic, off-tempo rhythm that makes the track sound more chaotic than it really is. Loren and Kraig’s vocals further blacken the song’s atmosphere, but it’s hard to figure out what they are singing about. This opener doesn’t leave a strong impression on the listener, and most of the LP suffers from the same consequences.
The release’s heaviness is hurt by methods that don’t work with its slow style. The constant alternate picking sounds like a death metal band’s attempt to play a Sunn record. The guitar doesn’t match well with the tempo of the drums. The final product sounds like a mess of distortion and mindless drum work. Since the vocals echo on all the songs, they do add to the album’s ephemeral sound, but it makes it harder to understand what Loren and Kraig articulate.
“I Am So Sorry, Goodbye” is the only track that breaks away from the rest of the collection. It also utilizes the double-kick and alternate picking, but doesn’t feature them for the entire song. When they are used, they work. The instruments also follow a similar tempo to each other, making it the most structured work on the album. Unsurprisingly, the lyrics can’t be deciphered.
A Northern Meadow can be best described as an album of noise that mostly sounds like leaf blowers. As someone listens to this record, they can look at the album cover and ask questions about the decisions that led to its existence. Is the person a member of the band? How much were they paid to tape their hair to the walls? Is it electrical tape or duct tape? Are they going to have to cut the person’s hair? The album art is more interesting than the music because the listener can come up with stories as to why the person taped their hair to walls in the shape of a star.
