◄◊► EUROPEAN METAL CHANNEL ◄◊►: PYRAMAZE

In it's early stages PYRAMAZE began in the winter of 2001/2002, when then 24 year old guitarist Michael Kammeyer left his former band, Damion, with whom, Michael had played for almost three years. After the split, Michael took a short break from music, to clear his mind, gathering new inspiration. After a few months, the idea of writing a complete self financed album of his own material formed in his mind. The following months were spent in intensive song writing mode, and by the summer of 2002 Michael found himself with enough material for a complete album. The time had now come, to find a name and the ideal musicians for this new band, it was then that Pyramaze began to take form.

The line-up
He didn't have to look far to find the first 2 musicians, as local drummer Morten Gade Sørensen and bassist Niels Kvist immediately jumped on the opportunity to join Michael in his quest. The next person to sign on was American keyboardist Jonah Weingarten, whom Michael had met over the internet. The newborn band began rehearsing the written material on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, the Danish guys on one side, and Jonah in the US . They sent demo's back and forth combined with many phone conferences as part of the creative process. With a core band around him, Michael then booked the studio to record the debut album. He hired on the well-known producer Jacob Hansen, a man with a long list of fantastic productions behind him, ranging from Hatesphere and Mercenary to Manticora and Falconer to name a few.

The debut album

In January 2003, Jonah flew to Denmark and the band began recording the CD in Jacob's studio in a small town called Ribe. After having laid down all the tracks besides the vocals, producer Jacob decided to send a couple of MP3's to his long time friends at Intromental Management - a Danish metal agency, who already had worked together with Jacob on numerous recordings. The guys at Intromental fell totally in love with the Pyramaze material, and gave Michael a call. After a couple of phone conversations, the two parties, Pyramaze and Intromental, decided to join forces, and the band suddenly found themselves being promoted professionally. One of the things that came with the signing to Intromental, was the decision of finding a really fantastic pro-singer. Someone who not only would fit the material, but also be able to lift it to even higher levels. Michael agreed to the idea, and Intromental sent him a bunch of CD's with different vocalists doing their stuff. After listening carefully to everything, Michael found that only one singer truly stood out, and that man was Lance King, known from such great power and progressive metal acts as Balance Of Power, Mattson, King's Machine and Gemini. Lance was approached with the material, and he agreed to become the new vocalist for Pyramaze. The already finished music was sent to Lance, along with all the lyrics, and Lance commenced the recording of the vocals in his own studio in Minneapolis. A few months later the vocals were finished, and the material was sent to Denmark again, where it was finally mixed and mastered back in Jacob's studio in Ribe.

Getting the band signed
The time had now come, to find a record company that would publish PYRAMAZE's debut album 'Melancholy Beast'. Fortunately the reactions to the album were extremely positive, and offers began coming in right away. After negotiations were concluded, the band signed with the following labels: NTS Records (Now known as REPLICA Records) for Europe and Canada , TOSHIBA-EMI for Japan and NIGHTMARE Records for USA. A common Release date was set and the album was available in all regions by the end of May 2004. PYRAMAZE had gained exceptional reviews from the media all over the world, and in 2005 a deal for the Asian market (outside of Japan) was also inked with Melodic Heaven in Korea. Pyramaze received 5 awards for best newcomer of 2004, and metal-fans soon recognized Pyramaze as one of the hottest underground metal names of their genre.

On the road
The band had a run of live shows in the summer of 2004 in North America, Denmark, Germany and France to support their debut album MELANCHOLY BEAST. Danish Guitarist Toke Skjønnemand was added to these shows, and soon after the touring was completed, Toke was asked to join the band as a permanent member.

The follow up album

Michael began composing what was to be the second Pyramaze release in the winter months of 2004/2005, a concept album entitled "Legend Of The Bone Carver" that has a unique story flowing from beginning to end. Once again recorded with Jacob Hansen at the helm, this new opus was completed in the summer of 2005. Immediately upon completion Intromental Management followed up with all the bands record companies, and in addition to Replica Records (formerly NTS) for France, Nightmare Records for USA and Melodic Heaven for Asia, new labels were found for Japan and Europe with King Records, and Massacre Records respectively. A unified release date was set for the end of February 2006. In January of 2006, PYRAMAZE had already been scheduled for several great festivals like Kløften Fest in Denmark / Bloodstock Open Air in England / Headbangers Open Air in Germany / and a highly coveted spot at Prog-Power fest in the U.S. Pyramaze being a "working class" metal band did not schedule any long tour, and so the few gigs played were highly sought-after by the fans. "Legend of the Bone Carver" received exceptional reviews from the metal media around the globe, and many genre fans call it the best concept album ever.

New vocalist
In November of 2006 Lance King was fired. Unpleasant personal and professional issues occurred during 2006 and made further cooperation impossible. In December Michael started communicating with the great Matthew Barlow (ex Iced Earth vocalist), and after many pleasant conversations and a bit of "auditioning" Matt joined the 'Pyramaze Fellowship' in March 2007. The news of Matt's comeback was officially released worldwide in April of 2007. Pyramaze, now again being in song writing mode, are preparing to hit the studio early 2008 with Matt behind the mic. Be prepared to have your faces melted by the powerful heavy metal of PYRAMAZE!

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