Pyramaze biography
In the beginning
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 Kloften 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 13. 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!
Another vocalist exchange
Matthew Barlow was persuaded to rejoin the metal scene by Michael Kammeyer as a replacement
for the departed Lance King. However his decision to rejoin Iced Earth a few months later meant
his only contribution to Pyramaze was to record the vocals for "Immortal." After auditioning some
really good singers Pyramaze found a new band-brother (ex-Tad Morose lead vocalist) Urban Breed.
Contact address:
Intromental Management
Att: PYRAMAZE
Noerrebrogade 200B, 4tv
2200 Copenhagen N
Denmark
E-Mail:
Band: info@pyramaze.com
Michael: michael@pyramaze.com
Morten: morten@pyramaze.com
Jonah: jonah@pyramaze.com
Niels: niels@pyramaze.com
Toke: toke@pyramaze.com
Matt: matt@pyramaze.com
Pyramaze links:
Source of ínfo:
The official website, Pyramaze My Space, Rockdetector, Wikipedia, Metal Archives