I’m just going to come out the gate with this, it’s bad. This eponymous EP is a big fat failure from new black metal band Pyra. There is extremely little background information about this band, the most I could really find about them is that they are from Italy. Most negative reviews I give go along with the phrase, “It’s just not my kind of thing.” Not here though, I genuinely could not understand how anyone could enjoy this EP.

There are two main problems I have with this. Number one is the drumming, and number two is the mixing. Most of the drumming is horrible. The main groove that is used is this annoying out of sync blastbeat that doesn’t fit with the rest of the songs in any way shape or form. Not all the drumming is terrible though. When it becomes slower and less aggressive it is listenable. One thing I do like about the drumming is the fills, they’re fun and full and really add a bit of extra umph to the slower sections. However, it seems like the band quite enjoyed those fills too, because it’s the same couple of fills every track, they never switch it up. The other main problem I have with the EP is the mixing. The drums, for most of the tracks, are mixed over everything else. Which means the complaints I’ve mentioned earlier, are pushed directly in your face. I would like to analyze the lyrics, but they’re drowned out by everything else.

I would like to end this on a high note however, it does show promise. If the band stops using those terrible blastbeats and fixed their mixing, they could be perfectly fine. The rest of the instruments aren’t bad. The guitar riffs, while fairly simple, are somewhat fun. The vocals, while indecipherable are totally fine, and would fit in many other bands. The EP opens and closes with the sound of wind and the crackling of fire. So it seems they were trying to go with a sort of concept, which I greatly respect. So long as the band fix their drumming and mixing, they could be absolutely fine. While the term “absolutely fine” doesn’t sound particularly impressive, it would be a big step up. This EP does show potential, so I do hope that Pyra lives up to that, and fixes itself up.

(4/10 Dexter Grahame)

https://www.facebook.com/purifyingpyra

https://digital.immortalfrostproductions.com/album/pyra