Pyramids on Mars - "Pyramids on Mars"
(POM Music 2006)
Pyramids on Mars - "Pyramids on Mars"
(POM Music 2006)
From Aural Innovations #35 (January 2007)
What is Pyramids on Mars? This is a project that grew out of the band Damidge, a space rock punk band. It features several members from Ozric Tentacles (Rad, Seaweed current at this time, Roly (original bass player and brother of the founder, Ed Wynne) as well as Alex Pym on guitar and female vocalist, Kate. In the summer of 1995, the band entered into the Ozric Tentacles studio, The Mill, and laid down these tracks of freeform jamming. The CD contains 13 jams of very Ozric Tentacles inspired space rock. It is mostly instrumental but Kate adds space vocals like Gilli in Gong, but also does real singing of lyrics on a number of songs. Sometimes you get a bit tired of the vocal though. The mix is quite strange though as the drums and bass are very much in the front and the guitar and especially the synths pushed to the back. If there ever was a guitar player who could sound like master Ed himself, it is Alex. Wow... he really is Ed sometimes. The music here is really going back to the vibe of Ozrics when they were jamming in the forests back in the 1985-86 era. Seaweed plays some cool sounds but is only playing less than half the time it seems on a number of tracks. We have spaced reggae (Take your Time), heavy metal space rock (Seeing through the Underground Overground) and pure jamming space rock bliss. Alex is pretty much soloing almost all the time in these freeform jams as he has such a great solid bottom with Roly and Rad. If you are a fan of old Ozrics, Gong and Dream Machine, then this is a must own rarity! Space is the place. It was engineered and produced by Ed Wynne.
For more information you can email: claudia@niterider.fsnet.co.uk.
Reviewed by Scott Heller