Following their wildly popular self-titled debut from 2009, New England psychedelic doom metallers Black Pyramid are back with this new Ep that has two brand new songs, one a crushing metal war-anthem, the other a more brooding, trippy dose of slow motion acid sludge. Fans of denim-clad old school doom rock have been freaking out over this band ever since that first album came out on Meteor City (we've sold a ton of them here at C-Blast alone), and this Ep proves yet again that the Pyramid are one of the best old-school doom throwbacks out there. Like a thunderous concoction of Saint Vitus's epic power, the brooding darkness of Pentagram, the muscular mid-paced metal of The Obsessed and the rampaging heaviness of High On Fire, these guys being their traditional doom and occult metal influences together into something that sounds both classic and crushingly heavy.

Lead-off song "Stormbringer" is a total crusher, a punishing and ridiculously catchy Sabbath-esque pummeler that leads into galloping battle metal that continues to evoke the rolling power of High On Fire in a more stripped down, classic metal attack. There's a killer chorus hook in here, massive downtuned riffing, thunderous double bass drumming, and Andy Beresky's commanding howl heads the charge, all making for a sound that reminds me of a missing link between The Obsessed and High On Fire. The bluesy psychedelia of the brief interludes throughout the song really echoes classic Obsessed. The b-side "Cloud Of Unknown" is a slower, brooding slab of doom, switching between sorrowful riffing and a regret-filled moan that rises over a prog-tinged heaviness, and more menacing, malevolent doom, with some moving guitar harmonies appearing later in the song.

The Cd version of Stormbringer adds on a bunch of additional tracks that are collected from a number of rare Eps that had only been previously available on vinyl for a total of fifty minutes of music, including the two songs from their split with Old One. These older songs are pretty fucking great, too. "Illumination" has this odd singsong quality to the gruff vocals while the music itself is heavy lumbering metal with some particularly catchy hooks embedded deep in the downtuned crush, and later on drifts into some fucking fantastic bloozy psychedelia. "Warswine" and "Macedonia" are both total devastators, as well. "Warswine", especially; it perfectly captures that High On Fire-on-a-NWOBHM-bender vibe that is Black Pyramid's trademark with those rolling, pounding tribal drums, the singer's stentorian cry for battle, and the droning, galloping, ultra heavy guitars.