Normally Sweden is mostly known for its 60's/70's influenced hardrock bands and, of course, as a birthplace for innovative death metal. Yes, you're right, because there is more such as the long tradition of hardcore punk but I will not go into the details due to lack of time. The point I wish to make is that I really don't know any sludge bands from Sweden. How embarrassing! Well, okay, now I know at least one band and these are PYRAMIDO. 'Sand' is their debut album for Totalrust Music which has been released 2009 and, in fact, the whole sound is as dry as a big sand dune. But, as I have already mentioned, there are no relaxing grooves and lovely melodies. PYRAMIDO tend to act like the well-known Marvel character Sandman who is on the warpath to whoop it up. Their heavy sound is far from original (try to imagine a powerful blend of Grief, Mugwart and Fistula), but nevertheless they have managed to record a surprisingly strong album. There are several reasons for this. First of all the results sound authentic.

By this I mean that there's enough dirt and filth between each single note, enriched with a strong dose of frustration and hate. All this are essential ingredients for a well-flavored sludge meal. Then there is a monstrous guitar sound and a singer who's going berserk. It is particularly this brutal, earth-shaking tone I really like. Each riff has enough power to catch my attention and fortunately 'Sand' is diversified, which means that there's a change of pace when it is necessary. The five performed songs crack the five-minute-mark with ease, whereas actually 'Above Our Heads' is almost twelve minutes long. But nevertheless, there's never a dull moment what is true for the complete album. To me, this band and their first album is much better than expected, and it seems as if PYRAMIDO is a serious competitor to other well-known sludge bands. Well, I'm really looking forward what will happen next with this four guys. The foundation is set.

(KK)

www.pyramido.org

www.totalrust-music.com