“My friends, it feels so good to listen the music of Pyramid Peak!”
1 Dr. Blofeld Und Die Waldorf Schüler (15:24)
2 Tears of Joy (12:48)
3 Lichtermeer (29:20)
4 Random Event Reloaded (9:58)
5 5 Vor 12 (5:47)
(CD/DDL 72:17) (V.F.)
(New Berlin School)
A floating shadow escapes from a somber wave made of sinuous arcs to roam in a cosmos filled by crystalline tones. Breaths and lunar waves sweep the dark horizon, caressing the white noises which sparkle under the glances dumbfounded by the breaths of morphic synths. Such as glances from cosmic sea lighthouse, the spatial waves crisscross and make love in a soft whirlwind of the moon, filling the oblong spatial intro of Dr Blofeld Und Die Waldorf Schüler of a bewitching psychedelicosmic character. And a little before the 4th minute, we can hear the cracklings to shiver. They flee the threat of an echoing sequential approach and the percussions which fall with a nervous fright, guiding Dr Blofeld Und Die Waldorf Schüler towards the rhythms so characteristics of Pyramid Peak. Sequences subdivide their strikings and their tonal approaches, shaping a superb rhythmic approach where spasmodic and chipped momentums fall in a striking rhythmic pattern. The percussions leave no chance to the ambiences while the choirs are wrapping the fury of it and unite their intensities to shape the captivating musical universe of P.Peak.
According to the guide of rhythms and melodies from the musical textbook of Pyramid Peak, Dr Blofeld Und Die Waldorf Schüler continues its ascent with melodious synth lines which sing and float over the curt and hammered rhythms. They finally run aground in the gaps of a finale without land. If you still don’t know Pyramid Peak, or Axel Stupplich, Andreas Morsch and Uwe Denzer, Dr Blofeld Und Die Waldorf Schüler is the perfect comparable of what we would find on the first 7 opuses of the German trio which makes since Atmosphere in 1998 a delicious EM allying ambiances, rhythms and melodies. And 5VOR12, an acronym depicting the habit of the trio to end any project on borderline (midnight minus five), is a good continuity in the career of the Peak.
Tears of Joy proposes another floating intro where the guitar of Max Maxxess Schiefele, guest musician on this track as well as for Lichtermeer and the title-track sculpts abstracted territories with floating solos à la David Gilmour which cry and sing among vaporous waltzing and morphic synth layers. Out of tears and out of breaths the guitar calms down a bit before the 7th minute point, leading Tears of Joy towards a rhythmic of steel where the strikings of electronic percussions alternate with an icy surgical precision. Synth solos whistle and coo above this chaotic rhythm among which the percussions are hammering hard and the sequencer shape a powerful break sequencing tempo. A must heard!
Recorded at the Bochum Planetarium concert in 2010, Lichtermeer begins with synth waves which enlace and rush into a musical nothingness with intensity. Some delicious nasal tones of the Middle East fragrances pierce this sound veil while that weak sequences try a shy rhythmic breakthrough. Crossed by iridescent sound arcs and rocked by dumb voices and angelic mists, the intro of Lichtermeer wakes up little by little to the timid palpitations which drive towards the deaf and echoing strikings of a lascivious rhythm. Tinted with felt, the percussions fall with the correctness of the hypnotic movements while sequences draw stroboscopic circles which turn with hesitation in an intense veil of mist and synth wave. Between its oneiric rhythms and its ethereal ambiances, this long track evolves by phase; passing from floating to lascivious to fall in the heavy atmospheres of a cosmos fill by eclectic tones to end its crusade of sounds and ambiances in the rhythms and the melodies of the Peak style.
Random Event Reloaded is a refreshed version of the Random Event title-track released in 2000. The intro is encircled by synth solos which are entwining idly in a superb iridescent mist. The roarings come from far and they ooze of a cosmic passion which extends until the powerful alternating keys of a heavy sequencer. Then the keys get subdivided, crisscrossed and stamped on themselves, spreading out a rhythmic maze which increases with the arrival of another sequential line which pounds a rhythm of lead. And the last 5 minutes of Random Event Reloaded are a pure stylistic composition on the art of sequencing and electronic rhythm. It’s heavy, powerful, very catchy and it tears up the paint of the walls. Another title recorded during the Bochum Planetarium concert, 5vor12 is a nice electronic ballad which reminds me a lot the White Eagle era of Tangerine Dream on with a good melodious sequencing pattern which sculpts a supple and fluid rhythm. Maxxess' guitar throws some good solos which bind themselves marvelously with those, more spectral, of the synths.
God that feels good to listen to new Pyramid Peak. I love the music of the Leverkusen trio, a town near Cologne, who does a good dosage of ambiances, as cosmic as abstract, and rhythms, as balanced as unbridled, with melodious approaches which always hang on to the pleasure of the ears. 5VOR12 is a good album which contains all the ingredients to satisfy the fans of P.Peak as well as to please those who like the electronic and Teutonic period of the Dream. As to those who like the heavy and black sequences of ['ramp] or Redshift, you will find your pleasure with an approach however more accessible there.
Sylvain Lupari (January 16th, 2012) ****¼*
Available at Pyramind Peak Bandcamp