Pyramid Mass are a black metal band—no wait, progressive metal—no wait, avantgarde—no wait alien, sci-fi prog rock. Actually, I really have no idea, but on Gargling Rot (Ossien Records), the band’s latest EP, they defy any need to concern yourself with fitting them into a neat box once you hear their battering 17 minutes of otherworldly intensity and anxiety.
Opening with ringing guitars, like an alarm from a compromised nuclear compound, there’s a flavor of “evil King Crimson” to instrumental “Unrest.” Whether coincidentally or by design, the EP closes on a similar note with the unsettling closing moments of “Dissolution,” leaving the listener with something akin to a mechanical panting.
Between these bookends, the band deal in death metal explosions, seesaw guitars, sliding synths seething like lava, and spacey sci-fi breaks. It should be no surprise that the band cite the influence of bands such Liturgy and Gorguts—groups that showcase technicality, but with no shortage of visceral brutality to go with it.
Even though they formed in 2014, it wasn’t till 2023 that the trio released their suitably-titled debut Monolith. Pyramid Mass have had plenty of time to hone their own unique sound and it shows here. For all the rabid growls and howls of vocalist … well, the whole band in fact share vocal duties … and the often brutally clattering drums, there is a surprising emotional depth to the music, greatly aided by the band’s use of synth textures that offer a mournful color beneath the auditory assault.
Whether it’s the sense falling down a rubbish shoot through mud, branches and unspeakable flotsam on “Prestige,” or the Lovcraftian aliens beaming down onto wasted farmland of “Abhorrent Passage,” Gargling Rot never satisfies itself being just one thing. It’s a seething mass of dark intent. A monstrous trip.
Not bad going for three dudes from Richmond, Virginia.
Buy or stream Gargling Rot on bandcamp.
