Pyramid Peak
- Fish'n Love
(2001/2006, SynGate CD-R 2070)
Synth Music Direct
(UK)
This is a re-issue of an album first
released in 2001. I have included a slightly amended version of the original
review here plus a critique of the bonus track:
Pyramid Peak just get better and
better. 'Ocean Drive' was good. 'Random Events' was excellent but (apart
from the seriously naff title- I laughed for the whole of a millisecond)
'Fish'n Love' is fantastic.
From very cosmic beginnings there appears a lovely melodic but melancholy
slow lead line. NASA samples from the Apollo 11 launch add to the atmosphere
still further. At the three minute mark 'First Mission' really starts
getting into its stride on the back of a brace of excellent sequences. They
combine and mutate really well and the lead lines add to the excitement
still further. From this tremendous pulsating opener we move into
'Elevation'. This is another number involving a sequence but its really the
melodies which catch the attention most. Its all rather slow and moody. I
was reminded a little of TD's early 80's sound-tracks such as 'Wavelength'.
'Pulse' starts with a montage of dark cosmic effects. Close your eyes and
you can just imagine you are floating way above the Earth. The sounds of
your spacecraft's machinery is all that is disturbing the tranquillity.
Three minutes in we get a sequence starting up, it is rapidly followed by
another and our attention is pulled back to the job at hand. A rhythm then
joins in and it becomes quite an infectious foot tapping number. The
melodies are probably the best Pyramid Peak have come up with to date and
along with the very accessible sequences and rhythms this is a piece of
music that almost everyone except maybe ambient fans will enjoy
tremendously- sort of 70s Jarre meets Inteligentsia. Unbelievably 'Changes'
keeps up the incredibly high standard of its predecessor. More fantastic
sequences and rhythms make it even more syncopated, TD meets the very best
of Ian Boddy from his 'Uncertainty Principle' period. Nearly everything on
this album would be real audience pleases if played live. There's so much of
the Oh Yes! factor to it and even a good selection of blistering solos.
'Impressions' is yet another stunner, this time amazingly Dysonish
especially in the lead melodies department. In fact it could rank alongside
anything on 'Evolution', 'Aquarelle' or even 'Moonwind' - yes its that good!
It's the title track next. We get more excellent sequences but also dreamy
electric guitar licks. On most albums this track would be something of a
highlight but following the three previous tracks would be an almost
impossible task for anyone and to some extent I was slightly disappointed
but the closing couple of minutes where it really starts to rock were yet
another highly impressive performance. 'Tiefschlaf Teil 1' returns us to the
cosmos for the first couple of minutes then quietly at first a slow bubbling
sequence starts to form. Another melodic sequence then takes the lead. Yet
another sequence comes in and we continue on the slow but relentless build
up. I kept expecting it to suddenly explode but instead the subtle approach
continues right until the end.
The bonus track 'Tiefschlaf Teil 2' is an excellent live offering fitting in
with the rest of the album very well. A sedate and slightly mysterious
sounding sequence is supplemented by distorted sampled speech. It's all very
ominous and eerie. More sequences, rhythms and an angst-ridden lead line set
the track alight and finish things on a real high.
This album contained some of my favourite moments from 2001 and given the
competition that is really saying something! Tracks 3, 4 and 5 just have to
be heard to be believed and the rest of the CD is pretty damned good as
well. (DL)
Dave Law, Synth Music Direct, 2001/2006
Pyramid Peak - Fish'n
Love
(2001, Invisible Shadows ISCD040112)
SynGate (D)
'Fish'n
Love' was originally released in 2001 by Invisible Shadows
and re-released in 2006 by SynGate Records with the
bonus track 'Tiefschlaf
Teil 2', previously unreleased.
