Song of the Week: Black Pyramid – Mercy’s Bane

After a few week’s respite, I am finally back with another Song of the Week. I first became aware of Black Pyramid while reading the excellent metal blog The Obelisk, which is primarily focused around Doom and Sludge metal. They were talking about their favorite albums of 2011, and listed Black Pyramid’s “II” as one of the albums they did not get the chance to listen to, but figured it would be a favorite if they had. I needed no better reason to check the band out.

Mercy’s Bane is the 2^nd track on “II” and it is surprisingly catchy, something that most metal I have been listening to nowadays is not. The song manages to stay noticeably heavy, but still stay readily accessible (though, maybe my notion of what is accessible has been warped from a year of listening to angry music). After listening to it for the first time, I was singing the main refrain for the rest of the day.

Unfortunately, the three-piece band essentially broke up during the recording of “II,” with guitarist/vocalist Andy Beresky leaving the band. Despite Beresky’s departure, the band has decided to remain active. They have recruited a new vocalist, and are apparently already writing new material. I suppose we will have to wait and see whether the revised line-up will be able to deliver songs that are as memorable as those on "II." Here’s hoping.