Review: Imperfect Pyramid ‘II’

The legacy of Ancient Egypt often looms prominently in our modern world, more often than not in musical influences. Ironically, Imperfect Pyramid’s II is the second Egyptian-themed record I’ve reviewed this year, the other being Radian’s Subterfuge, but the two records in question could not be more stylistically different.

Imperfect Pyramid is a joint effort between synth guru Scott Heller aka Dr Space (Øresund Space Collective) and Scottish musician Rob Lawson. The result is a cosmic journey across the pharaoh’s lands and beyond amidst a mass of noise, Moog drones, instrumental churning and a contained sense of cacophony.

Approach Sandstorm (Intro) is just what you would expect. It’s synth mass and light stringed plucking conjures up an image of a menacing sandy brown tempest inching closer and closer until the danger to the listener becomes all too apparent. But fear not, as there is tranquility ahead with the chilled number Space Samba – a Latin-tinged piece very reminiscent of Chick Corea’s ‘70s jazz fusion output. Pleasing hand percussion massages the eardrums with rich keyboard tones for a fine sense of cosmic ease.

Pleasing hand percussion massages the eardrums with rich keyboard tones for a fine sense of cosmic ease…

Egyptian Musician Flies South is a bit more mysterious, while Blue Pyramid Shadows indicates we could be exploring the land of the dead with its harsher Moog accents and delicate dulcimer licks. Empty Sarcophagus is a bit of a challenging listen, with its rather abrasive programmed beats sounding like something out of an early ‘90s PC game that never quite made it out of development. But the outro, titled Assifa Ramlayya, is the opposite. It makes me feel like I just completed a very difficult first-person shooter – anyone remember Powerslave for PC?

II loses focus in the latter half of its seventy-six-minute runtime, but it does have a solidly atmospheric and weird air about it for any erstwhile time traveler heading back to the Valley of Kings. Dr Space and his cohorts show no signs of slowing down on their synthtastic journeys.

Label: Independent
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Scribed by: Rob Walsh