A trio, three summits for a band called Pyramid. The foundations of this musical triangle were laid in 2019 with the release of their debut album “Mind Maze”. This was followed by two European tours, opening for psychedelic major players such as Color Haze and Elder, enabling Pyramid to forge a solid reputation across the Rhine among all flying carpet travel aficionados. With the foundations of the pyramid all set, it was time for Michael Kümpflein (bass/keyboard), Lukas Schomann (drums) and Shane Saban (guitar) to build, stone by stone, the edifice that will take them to the very top.
It must be said that the stoner and psych scene is on a roll these days, buoyed by the recent success of King Buffalo, Kanaan and above all Slift, and rekindling an appetite for anyone who can spot kraut, space rock and psychedelic jams in a band’s pedigree. Numerous projects were released, with varying degrees of success. Standing out from the crowd is a band who knows that the devil is in the details: the subtlety of the arrangements, the effects and the sonic syntax scattered throughout the stoner rock labyrinth of “Beyond Borders of Time” make it such an immersive instrumental surprise.
You won’t find any tortuous or boring stretchings here. Each track on the album rarely exceeds 7 minutes. The trio knows how to craft concise tracks supported by interesting dynamics. “The Medicine Man” and its singular revving riff, “Sunbeam” and its heady, cheerful and almost funky groove, are surprising. It’s a pleasure to be carried along by a band whose ambition and construction is clear and without excessive convolutions.
Aptly titled, not only “Beyond Borders of Time” transports us to another space and time, but it is also a prodigious vector of sensations. The trio’s music can be felt, seen and smelled. “Sunbeam” is that ray of sunlight cutting through the gloom, warming your face in the morning; “Petrichor” is the moment when the rain falls and its scent bursts forth, bringing with it that feeling of well-being; “Solar Flare” is an explosion of color, glowing plumes and brilliant filaments, with the cosmos as a backdrop.
Indeed, there is a desire to connect the insignificance of our perception and feelings with the world’s immensity. Somewhere between the fluidity of My Sleeping Karma and the repetitive motifs of Yawning Man, Pyramid offers luminous music that escapes the mind and elevates consciousness. “Prototype” is a compendium of everything we’ve experienced thus far, and a journey from the depths of our souls into the infinity of the Universe.
In the end, the combo’s monicker makes sense in its symbolism and music niche. The balanced shape of the pyramid appears as a synthesis of vertical and horizontal forces, and its incomparably massive construction seems the embodiment of a stable, eternal order. And such is the very best the band has to offer: a know-how and a creative maturity allowing us to soar to sensational heights. Imhotep.
Last modified: 28 March 2024
