After the release of their third album "Inmortal" and the leaving of Matt Barlow as a singer, from Hall Of Metal we contacted the leader and guitar player of PYRAMAZE, Michel Kammeyer, to ask him some questions. 

- HoM. Thanks for the interview Michael. The first thing I want to ask you is about the leaving of Lance King. What was the problem? How did you take it?

Well, he didn’t leave the band, we actually kicked him out of the band. We had some both personal and professional issues with him for a long time, you know. They basically culminated after the ProgPower USA VII festival in Atlanta, where he planned some things but the rest of the band didn’t want to and we had a big discussion so when we back home we decided to part ways. I don’t want to get into too many details, you know.

- HoM. Did you think in Matt Barlow as Lance’s substitute from the beginning?  Did you consider any other name?

When we kicked lance our, I just sat down and played around with the thought about it, I could take any vocalist who we’d like to work with. In the top of my list was Matt Barlow, even though he was retired from music, but why don’t try it out? So I contacted with Matt. He was my first choice and fortunately he said yeah!

- HoM. Matt’s return to the metal scene is, in part, thanks to you. How did you convince him to sing in Pyramaze? Was it planned that he sang only in that album or in more?

Well, first I did some detective work on the internet to find out where he was working because I knew it was going to be impossible to find his private address, but I knew he was a police officer in America. I used the Wikipedia and all kinds of tools on the internet and I found the address of the police station. I gave him a phone call direct to the police station. I reached the lady at the front door and asked her for Officer Barlow. I waited and he said:” Hello, this is Officer Barlow”. I talked for about 10 seconds and he said: “Hold, hold your horses. You’re talking to the wrong officer Barlow”: I was actually talking to Matt’s brother, who is also a police officer (laughs). I tried again next day and the lady gave me his e-mail address and I wrote a long letter about who we are, the band, the links...and only a couple of days went by and I had an enthusiastic e-mail from Matt. That’s how we started communicating. It was a long process; it took about one and a half months.

- HoM. When you started to compose “Immortal”, did you know that Matt was going to be the new singer?

Yes I did. I composed it after he joined the band, so I had him in mind.

- HoM. When Matt came back to iced Earth, did you consider the possibility of having Ripper Owens in Pyramaze?

No, I never considered Ripper to be an option to Pyramaze really.

- HoM. Probably you are aware of the fact that this was Pyramaze’s moment. Many metal fans would listen to “Immortal” thanks to Matt’s collaboration. Do you think you have done your best with this album? Are the sales going well?

Yeah, definitely. Matt’s name is a good promotion to us, but first of all we took him because I’m really a fan of his voice, it sounds very very good. Obviously he’s like a bomb in the metal scene. It’s good for the promotion but if you look past his name I think the material in itself is good.

- HoM. The album has got great songs such us “Year Of The Phoenix”, “Ghost Light” or “Caramons Poem”, but I think some other songs are not at the same level, what do you think about this?

Yes, they’re more progressive, right? We’ve something for everybody in the album. We have some songs that are pretty catchy and some others are a bit longer and more technical. So, two different types, very catchy ones and the progressive, which you have to listen to them more times.

- HoM. You have been labelled as progressive power and even thrash for the hardening of your music. How would you describe Pyramaze’s music?

Well, we are a big mixture of power, epic and progressive. If I had to describe it in one word I’d say very epic and very melodic.

- HoM. Well, while preparing this interview, we have known that you have a new singer yet, the great Urban Breed. Congratulations, tell us a bit about the auditions, the characteristics you were looking for, if you received any demo from any famous singer..?

We only approached singers that we thought could do the job. We did not make a public audition, it was private. I’m not going to mention all the names of the people who didn’t get the job, but we had seven people on the audition for the band and urban was on the top of that. We were communicating with him for about a month because he had some obligations with his other band, Bloodbound. The decision was made one week ago and we’re very happy about it.

- HoM. I think Urban is a great singer, but aren’t you afraid that he leaves the band as he has done with Tad Morose and Bloodbound, despite he come back later? Is he going to continue with Bloodbound?

No, he will definitely finish right now. He’s going to say goodbye.

- HoM. You have five dates in Denmark with Volbeat. Is it your first live tour? Is there any possibility of visiting more European countries? We’re looking forward to seeing you in Spain.

Well, we’ve played before in our country. Denmark is not really a big metal country but volveat make some kind of crossed style between metal and rock. they’re a kind of Johnny Cash heavy metal, you know. It’s really cool to be on tour with these guys. It’s like a bomb in Denmark. We have a very busy schedule but we hope we can do some European dates.

- HoM. In recent statements, Volbeat frontman, Michael Poulse, said that “Immortal” has been the best Danish release since Mercyful Fate. How do you feel for that compliment? What would you say to him?

I’m very honoured about it, of course. He’s a rockstar but a very cool boy. Volveat are a really big metal band in Denmark, everybody wants them.

- HoM. The album was released last June but it was recorded some time ago. I know it is very soon but, have you got any idea for the next album? With Urban, are you going to move to a more melodic sound?

We started recording the instruments in october last year, then the vocals in February and it was mixed in march. for the  next I have no idea, it’s really a lot of work, I have a family, a house, you know.

- HoM. Which bands have influenced you as a guitar player? And when you decided to form a band?

Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Metallica.. all big rock and heavy bands. I really learnt a lot from Nightwish, Blind Guardian, Helloween...

- HoM. You are a fan of Nightwish. Would it be possible, in the future, that Pyramaze had a feminine singer?

When we started, we had a male singer so it would have been strange to change to a feminine singer. It’s something I had never taken seriously. But if I had a side project I’d really consider to have a feminine singer.

- HoM. You have got a family. How do you combine the life as a musician and the compromises of the band with the family life? Is it difficult?

It’s very difficult, everything takes a lot of time, especially now that I had my daughter, she’s 18 months old now. When I back home I have to take care of her, you know. the music comes after her, but I make it work somehow.

- HoM. Many great bands have come out from Denmark, such as King Diamond, Royal Hunt or Pretty Maids. How do you see the Danish scene nowadays?

Nowadays the scene is pretty bad. Only bands like Volbeat or really aggressive ones. Mnemic or Mercenary are underground in Denmark but they are doing really good in their style. the scene is bad but it’s getting a bit better.

- HoM. That’s all Michael. Thank you very much. Is there anything you want to say to your Spanish fans?

Oh, thanks a lot for the support, we really appreciate it. If you have questions, ask us in our forum and we personally will answer then. I hope to see you soon!

 Elaborated by HoM
Translated by Roadrunner

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