Gazing upon the great beyond with myriad planes of life and death(s) represented by portals set beneath the roots of a great tree Northampton, Massachusetts-based psychedelic doom metal trio BLACK PYRAMID retake the helm of their decade distended ship, reclaiming their foil of exploration for a reprisal and extension of their signature sound for this fourth full-length album. A concept album relaying an epic sojourn through space and time ‘The Paths of Time are Vast‘ directs us down paths which lead to a place of cosmic rest where death and transcendence are without clear separation. No great-old rot is felt, inevitable death does not hinder the thrill of each portal taken as their sludge-thundered production values and inventive next-gen extension of traditional doom metal wiles further reaches into the realm of psych’d out and prog-rock ventured sounds without losing the immediate tunefulness that’d guided all their past work. It is not only a glorious return but one which comes with great evolutionary ambitions, all of which pay appreciable dividends to the patient, vibe-thirsted ear.

Black Pyramid formed as a trio back in 2007 during a transitional period for doom metal in terms of the decline(s) of influential mainstays Reverend Bizarre and Electric Wizard, a steady rise in “occult”-themed releases, and complete tonal shifts for groups like High on Fire. That isn’t to suggest that particular climate was what’d shaped ’em entirely, this is a group who’d more-or-less risen from the same fuzz-baked scenery as Elder, but rather that their work echoed the shifting sands of the time while aiming for hi-fi buzz of new-modern psychedelic doom which was distinctly in service of traditional doom/proto-heavy metal infused songcraft. Their sound was novel from their first demo (‘Demo‘, 2007) for the sake of their work being particularly catchy while also fully fused with traditional/psychedelic doom tenets and proto-metal shapes. Most all of those songs were combed-over, juiced up and made a thing-of-legend per the debut full-length (‘Black Pyramid‘, 2009) from the band, still a feat which holds up today. Folks definitely noticed that debut at the time but it’d truly hit larger notice beyond stoner/doom metal circles somewhere in between 2011 when the ‘Stormbringer‘ compilation and their second full-length album (‘II‘, 2012) released with many folks discovering the the wiles of the band around that time. This is the main legacy of the group as a mostly intact original line-up hit their stride quickly on those first two albums both in terms of tuneful yet indulgent songcraft and stylized production values which’ve held up brilliantly in the realm of sludgy stoner-doom metal buzz.

The threshold and back… — While I’ve nothing but joy and reverence for the initial Mark II run of Black Pyramid featuring guitarist/vocalist Andy Beresky (Palace in Thunderland) there was no replacing his foundational tact and tone once he’d left and from my point of view their third album (‘Adversarial‘, 2013) was proof of this. While it was not a bad album by any means the style and timbre of guitarist/vocalist Darryl Shepard brought much more of a growled tone, a less tuneful cadence and songwriting sense which’d been too much of a departure for my own tastes at the time. That line-up had apparently gone on under the Black Pyramid name touring songs from their third album while Shepard and longtime bassist Gein had been writing their own material for this band, which was obvious enough once they’d founded their own gig under the name The Scimitar for a 2014 released album titled ‘Doomsayer‘. By 2015 drummer Clay Neely had connected with the other two original members and decided the band would return to the ‘Black Pyramid‘ era line-up and play select shows until 2018 when he’d begin to act as more a cohort and overseer as the remaining original members brought in Andy Kivela on drums full time.

Time has afforded these folks space to redraw themselves in finer detail as musicians and artists while also slowly rebuilding Black Pyramid on a most clear-green foundation, slowly but surely arriving upon ‘The Paths of Time Are Vast‘ with a wizened hand and more of their own sound behind the wheel. Beresky‘s vocals still have tinges of Matt Pike‘s gruff diction but at this point anyone familiar with this band should immediately feel the work put into the tone and cadence of his snarl, still instinctual to some degree but not overly polished. Elsewhere the maturation of their collective unit gains confidence in their progressive, psychedelic and emergent heavy rock interest that the centerpiece of the full listen here is a ~twenty minute stream of consciousness, a three-part title track which amounts to the entirety of Side C. This is yet just one mountain, one chunk of four main sections of this record which act in patient, masterful strokes one’d expect from these folks beyond the endpoint of their collective efforts just over a decade prior.

How far these folks’ve come into an evolutionary statement does not precede their hype-giving return to the hall in such an obviate way, however and this can be felt strongest within the drifting n’ lumbering roar of their freshened hi-fi production values (via Justin Pizzoferrato at Sonelab), a tentative yet steadily tumbling beat, and the trill-punctuated Sabbath groove of opener “Bile, Blame and Blasphemy“. An intoxicating reprisal of Black Pyramid‘s signature psych-doom opens the door to something like a “timeless band” (or, “ahead of their time”) statement if only for how naturally their work translates in hindsight and how this new work rolls right in unflinching. This should be enough to quickly convince past fandom that they’ve left behind nothing and that they’re still searching for the next great mountain a decade removed from their last LP. Again, the skin they’ve grown has sense enough to rant and run-off wherever the moment takes them, in practical terms this means less interruptive melodic bursts and more wandering progressivisms though the 12+ minute opener doesn’t quite reach for an Elder-level transformation. Nuclear fuzz and doom metal riffs are still their gig as evidenced by “The Crypt on the Borderlands”, my initial favorite piece upon greeting this album as I feel its storyteller vibe and tension rich sludged-up rumbling and descending leads complete this sensation that these old favorites are back on thier shit but also wizened upon return. Beyond that those unfamiliar with their work will understand the heavily melodic, heavy metallic, traditional doom stoked and stoner/sludge bustin’ sound that’d always made their work familiar gear but their own spiritus.

If there is a potential downside to the experience here there isn’t much precedence for any glaring complaint within the current psychedelic rock, jammed-out, and nowadays stoner (or, just doom metal) music zeitgeist as the progressive rock-tinged landscaping and elaborately stated longform pieces on ‘The Paths of Time Are Vast‘. But yes, for those with tested attention spans the full listen is ~70 minutes and that’ll be a big ask for the unindoctrinated passerby. Of course the triad of pieces that comprise the title track is an island unto its own but this may provide some relief, a place for the mind to pool and revive in between the impact of the brilliant “Take Us to the Threshold” which twists Beresky‘s vocals in almost a more incensed Phil Swanson-esque register at points when harmonized, a strong point of expression within the whirring cyclone of the song otherwise. The build toward the riff that hits around ~6:03 minutes in is a thing of beauty as their tear out of the vortex peaks into a group shouted high. This song paired with the closer, a new version of “The Quantum Phoenix”, a song which’d featured on their split w/Enhailer back in 2020, offer what I’d consider some of their best material to date, up there with “Dreams of the Dead” wherein those rumbling ‘The Art of Self-Defense‘ toned climbs meet up with the sentimental grit of Beresky‘s riff conscious cadence.

Not only do we find rousing mastery one’d expect of Black Pyramid‘s first two records applied and expanded within each song here but each song herein manages to escalate with some manner of emotion as they roar through… a rare feat for post-millennium doom metal adjacent music as this specific generation of doomed music “ages out” of melodic tension in most cases. There is some nostalgia eh, if that can apply just a decade plus later, felt as a longtime fan of their early work or I’d at least found some welcome familiarity in their still inordinately tuneful approach to this style of doom metal. Otherwise the overall presentation here isn’t just about style points and memorable pieces as they’ve tasked the aesthetics of ‘The Paths of Time Are Vast‘ with exceptional Marald van Haasteren by way of cover artwork conveying the astral-projected search within the album representing realms, maws, and monsters as potential pathways explored. It does well to represent their work in a way which is fitting even when it veers away from the stylized illustrations found on previous releases. All in all these folks have done well to thoughtfully resuscitate their gig in a way which carves a fresh path forward yet upholds their name to the nth degree in a way which feels natural in its extension. Above all other points made (and re-made) here the greater doom metal fandom will find a memorable signature applied to both sonic temperament and songcraft here and this alone warrants above-average notoriety. A high recommendation.

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