How does a group of people who make a decent first album top that album (or theoretically top that album anyway)? Pyramids must have similar thoughts regarding sophomore records considering that their debut sparked much conversation and brought them a decent amount of attention. And when the time came for them to follow up their own record, they brought in Nadja and a host of other collaborators to push their unique sound even further. For Nadja's part in this collaborative effort, the outfit is no stranger to collaborations as they have collaborated with Black Boned Angel, Datashock, Fear Falls Burning, and several others to create records. But wait, there is more; the collaboration train for this album does not stop there as Chris Simpson (of Mineral notoriety) also appears on the album, and in truth, this is a diverse and exciting group of people all working together.
The name of the project certainly fits as the album seems much more of Pyramids record than a group of Nadja compositions with the recognizable vocal style of Pyramids being a major component of the four songs here. The atmospheric qualities of the tracks are quite excellent with solid dynamic manipulation, allowing for some rather affecting moments, particularly in "Into the Silent Storm" and "Sound of Ice and Grass." Cascading and competing sheets of white noise and other sounds imbue the tracks with a sense of space without being harsh while the intermittent vocals and piano accompaniment give the record a real depth. The tension that "Another War" creates as the piece slowly builds contains a nice contrast between the song composition and the mood that it creates as the music never relies on aggressive sounds for that achievement. Chris Simpson's appearance on the track also adds interest (in part due to his notoriety and in part due to the way that it is integrated into the song). The marriage of the black metal elements with the atmospheric qualities (heard on the first Pyramids album) also rears its influence on both the "Sound of Ice and Grass" and "An Angel was Heard to Cry Over the City of Rome," and maybe it is the mix of the album (accomplished by James Plotkin of Khanate, Jodis, House of Low Culture, The Lotus Eaters, Khlyst, etc. and who has also mixed and remixed work for SunnO))), Earth, Isis, Pelican, Nadja, the previous Pyramids record), but this time out the two work a bit better together and both in much different respects as "Sound of Ice and Grass" contains some dark moments that use drums and some aggressive sounds whereas "An Angel was Heard to Cry Over the City of Rome" mainly uses the hectic black metal-esque drum beats in interesting ways.
The first time that I played the Pyramids with Nadja album there was a definite level of satisfaction that I felt while listening to the blissful sounds emanating from the speakers, and you might ask, "Why so?" to such a comment and with justification. See, I, like others that I have discussed the debut from Pyramids, thoroughly enjoyed the remixes of that album a bit more than the album itself; and in some respects, it might seem that the members of Pyramids themselves enjoyed the fruits of that as well because this collaboration seems to be a direct extension of those remixes. Truthfully, Pyramids with Nadja delivers in and touches on sounds that evoke a pleasant emotional well, a quality that their first album hinted at times, making this record an excellent step forward for Pyramids.
