Black Pyramid

Black Pyramid
Background information
Origin	Northampton, Massachusetts, USA
Genres	Stoner Metal
Years active	2007 - 2013, 2015 - Present
Labels	MeteorCity Records, Hydro-Phonic
Associated acts	Roadsaw, Black Fucking Doom, Palace in Thunderland, Artemis Pyledriver, The Crimson Ghosts, Septik Onslaught, The Scimitar, Second Grave
Website	Black Pyramid Facebook
Band Logo

Black Pyramid are a stoner metal band from Northampton, Massachusetts. Billing themselves as "psychedelic war metal", this power trio also incorporates elements of doom and classic heavy metal to evoke a mix of downtuned rumblings and apocalyptic lyrics of war, the occult, religion and alienation. The band would attain significant attention from the stoner/doom circles with their debut EP and quickly sign to MeteorCity Records not long after.

Black Pyramid has toured all over the USA and Europe, releasing three albums to date. Notably the band saw drastic lineup changes in 2012 (At some point in the band's existence all three original members have left and been replaced) before a hiatus in 2013. However the original lineup would reboot in 2015, remaining active to this day.

History

Black Pyramid formed sometime in 2007 with the initial lineup of Beaudry, Beresky and Neely. Originally the band was intended to be called Burning North and later Eye of The Pyramid before settling on Black Pyramid. The band would quickly gain attention in the stoner rock scene with their eponymous demo (Released 2007) and 7" EP (Released 16 April 2008). The band largely played in Massachusetts early on but would branch out to Vermont, Rhode Island and New York. The band's earliest known shows were on 30 November 2007 (At The Elevens, Northampton, MA) and 9 December 2007 (At Pearl Street; With The Sword, Black Cobra, Valient Thorr) In 2008 Eric Beaudry would be replaced by Dave Gein. Following the change of bassists, the band would sign to MeteorCity Records and begin work on their debut album, recording at Black Coffee Sound in Williamsburg.

Black Pyramid would be released on 14 July 2009 with a vinyl edition following in early August. The band's debut would gain a major amount of critical praise among the stoner scene. 2009 would see the band perform a host of shows with the likes of The Hounds of Hasselvander, Ogre, Planetoid, Elder and Queen Elephantine among others. The band would also make an appearance at the tenth edition of Stoner Hands of Doom. 2010 would see the band venturing out touring in support of the record, once in April & May and again in August with Valkyrie. The band also performed with the likes of Earthride, Elder, Triptykon and Unearthly Trance among others. The band had also recorded and demoed a host of new material, releasing a split LP with Old One on 10 May 2010.

2011 would be one of the most productive years of their initial run, seeing the trio on a mini-tour through February. Following a string of further shows with the likes of Olde Growth, Doomriders and Ice Dragon the band would make way for their first tour of Europe with Blood Farmers, including appearances at Hammer of Doom and Roadburn Festival. The band also shared the stage with the likes of Pentagram and Electric Wizard on select dates of the tour. A homecoming show would follow on 20 May along with an appearance at Days of The Doomed and a 14 July performance with Truckfighters. Through the summer the band released two singles in Mercy's Bane (31 March 2011) and Stormbringer (April 2011) along with a split with Tenspeed Warlock (30 April 2011). After the European tour and selected summer shows the band began work on their second album.

On 6 September 2011, Beresky would make a thread on The Obelisk Forums with the title "Black Pyramid is Dead, Long Live Black Pyramid" with the statement of "So long suckers, I am out of the game.". Through the next few days the posts of Beresky (Known as "Dinger") would get more acrimonious, with other members getting involved. According to Beresky in a later interview the band had recorded a fair amount of the material of the follow-up album, including Beresky's guitar and vocals. However with trying to negotiate with Profound Lore, conflicts between band members and Beresky's mental health wearing, he chose to leave the band. Darryl Shepard would reach out to Gein and Neely in the wake of the breakup, which would lead to him joining the band. On 23 January 2012, Neely would be interviewed by The Obelisk, explaining his side of the conflicts with Beresky and composing the second album. In April that same year, Beresky would be interviewed by It's Psychedelic Baby, explaining the origins of the band and what later caused him to leave.

Eventually finishing the recording of the album in the fall, II would be released via MeteorCity Records on 31 January 2012 to positive reviews. Black Pyramid would ebark on a handful of shows in 2012, namely appearances at the inaugural DesertFest London and the twelfth annual Stoner Hands of Doom. Through the fall and winter of 2012, the band would begin work on a third studio album. Adversarial would be released on 2 April 2013 to positive acclaim as the band embarked on a tour of Europe leading up to an appearance at Hellfest. In 2015 Black Pyramid release the 7" Open The Gates / Dead Star, and then would embark on a tour of Europe with Lo-Pan, including appearances at DesertFest London, DesertFest Berlin, Sky High Festival and Asymmetry Festival. However sometime after, Black Pyramid would disband.

In 2016 Black Pyramid would reform with it's original lineup of Neely, Beaudry and Beresky. For their return band would perform a handful of shows in 2016 and 2017, including a headlining appearance at The Maryland Doom Fest. 2018 would see appearances at Doomed & Stoned Chicago, Stoned To Death and Ode To Doom, this time with a new drummer in Andy Kivela.

Discography

Studio Albums

• Black Pyramid (2009, MeteorCity Records)
• II (2012, MeteorCity Records)
• Adversarial (2013, Hydro-Phonic)

Other Releases

• Black Pyramid (Demo) (2007, Self-Released)
• Black Pyramid (EP) (2008, Electric Earth)
• Black Pyramid / Old One (Split with Old One) (2010, Serpent Records)
• Mercy's Bane (Single) (2011, MeteorCity Records)
• Stormbringer (EP) (2011, Hydro-Phonic Records)
• Suffering Is the Inheritance of Man (Split with Tenspeed Warlock) (2011, Parasitic)
• Stormbringer (Compilation) (2011, Hydro-Phonic Records)
• Black Pyramid / Odyssey (Split with Odyssey) (2012, Transubstans)
• Open the Gates / Dead Star (Single) (2015, Hydro-Phonic)

Personnel

• Eric Beaudry - Bass (2007 - 2008, 2015 - Present)
• Andy "Dinger" Beresky - Guitar, Vocals (2007 - 2011, 2015 - Present)
• Andy Kivela - Drums (2018 - Present)
• Clay Neely - Drums (2007 - 2013, 2015 - 2018)
• Dave Gein - Bass (2008 - 2013)
• Darryl Shepard - Guitar, Vocals (2011 - 2013)