Reviewed by Greg Sammons

The last couple of years have seen one of the staple ingredients of hard music - '80s style metal - being re-embraced, under the new moniker of power metal. Something that was for years branded deeply unfashionable suddenly seems less cheesy and more credible. One thing is for sure, the musicianship from the Christian bands is often way above the par set by the mainstream acts. This remains true for Pyramaze, a band that combine the European and North American schools of power metal by cunningly having members from both continents. The core of the band hail from Denmark and features the amazing guitar work of Michael Kammeyer, with the vocals and keys coming from the other side of the Atlantic. Vocals come courtesy of Lance King, a well known and respected name in the neighbouring genres of prog and power metal. Handily he also owns the label which puts out 'Legend Of The Bone Carver', Nightmare Records. The album is the band's second and is a concept album. It's theme? Well, I'll let them explain: "A tale of the world's evil consuming all that is good, and a prayer that brings a young hope of unknown origin to our world." The metal is symphonic; it's progressive and, as they put it, "epic". It certainly is multi-layered and full of emotion and energy. I can certainly see this being a welcome addition to the collection for fans of Helloween, Angra and Lance's other bands, Avian and Balance Of Power.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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