Ok, first of all let's have a look at these guys. Who are they? Pyramaze are fronted by previous Balance Of Power vocalist Lance King, with the Damion credited Michael Kammeyer on guitar and Aurora, Nepenthe, and Wuthering Heights drummer Morten Gade Sorensen. Bassist Niels Kvist and American keyboard player Jonah Weingarten came to forge Pyramaze.
Melancholy Beast is their debut album and I have to say it's the finest Danish Melodic Power Metal I've heard for the last years. You can easily understand Pyramaze's influences, since their Iron Maiden, Kamelot, Iced Earth and Stratovarious effects are quite obvious. However the band does not try to copy them but they compose their own new and fresh melodies.
Of course one of Pyramaze's advantages is Lance's voice, which is very impressive and powerful. I've notice some weak points on the compositions that pass by unnoticed, thanks to his amazing vocals. These guys might hail from Denmark but their Power Metal is done in the American way, cause of the fact that two members are Americans and their participation is strong enough to encase the European way of playing.
So, what we got here is high class Melodic Power Metal with most of the songs being very impressive, having an outstanding production. Highlights are Sleepy hollow, Melancholy Beast, The Journey and Legend with their perfect balance of melody and Lance's soaring vocals. All the material is a lot better than what the average band in this genre is releasing nowadays, when originality is something hard to achieve, that's for sure.
Pyramaze is capable of producing something that sounds new and fresh when almost everything has been done by someone else before. These guys are a more than welcome addition to the Melodic Power Metal scene and as debuts go, this is one of the strongest. The second album should be dynamite.
Concluding, Melancholy Beast is a blistering debut album from a promising young band with the potentials to go all the way. Strongly recommended to every metal head out there.