Album Review: Pyramaze - Epitaph

I'm just going to get this out of the way early; Pyramaze have always been incredibly bland to me. Whether it was their earliest work when Lance King was their singer, or the album they made with Matt Barlow, or their current (and finally stable) lineup, it's always been rote power metal that doesn't move the needle. They at least garnered my attention when they had notable singers, but now that they are a relatively faceless band making predictable music, I can't say I have been moved or impressed by them. They're a perfectly capable band, but the blueprint of power metal is so played out for me, I need something more to get excited about.

Cliche #1: The album starts with a two minute instrumental. These pieces rarely have strong enough elements to make them worth listening to on their own, and this one is no different. It wastes time that doesn't add anything to the rest of the record.

Cliche #2: Eastern motifs. Once that intro is over, "A Stroke Of Magic" opens with a guitar melody from the old bag of tricks, adding a 'foreign' mood to the otherwise standard djent-ish track. I'm not sure why the song is supposed to echo that culture if the lyrics have nothing to do with it. That makes it a gimmick, and not something that makes sense, such as when Rainbow did "Gates Of Babylon" all those years ago.

Cliche #3: Knights. As the title suggests, we get medieval themes in "Knights In Shining Armour". Power metal is so littered with songs about knights, swords, dragons, and battles that I have never been able to figure out the attraction. Power metal and fantasy go hand-in-hand, and as I have mentioned in other reviews (including Serenity's "The Last Knight" early this year), all the singing about warriors and jabbing swords through people and mythical creatures renders the songs completely unrelateable.

Cliche #4: A ten-plus minute epic to end the album. Bands have been doing this forever, trying to end their albums with massive statements that they aren't just bands, they are artists. As if length has anything to do with being artistic. Inviting their past singers back (Cliche #5), they spend twelve minutes playing sections of music that don't tie into a predictable structure, which means the band doesn't bother trying to write a solid hook. It's a trapping of being 'progressive' that is ridiculous, but common.

There is something a bit different about this record, though. Over the years, Pyramaze has updated their sound to reflect the times. That means this record isn't the old double-bass variety of power metal, but instead has guitars chugging with djent tones and rhythms. That does reduce the generic quotient, although it puts them firmly in league with many other bands, so it doesn't separate them as a unique entity. Listening to this record, even during the parts that are good, this could be a Dynazty album, or several other bands playing this style. There is a standard sound all these bands go for, and so many doing exactly the same thing has dulled the impact any one of them can make.

'Dull' is the operative word here. Pyramaze is a solid band, and there's some good songs on this album, but the whole thing feels flat. The songs hit all the familiar marks, and while that can be a good thing at times, it can also mean I'd rather listen to the countless songs that have done the same thing beforehand. There's nothing wrong with "Epitaph", but there's nothing about it you have to hear either. Being standard means everyone might like it, but few people need it. Such is the danger.