SilentScream213 Pentagram didn’t quite come bursting into the scene in 1985, but neither were they plodding – it was a sort of midtempo shuffle between classic Heavy Metal and Trad Doom. Another thing; their riffs weren’t really evil sounding, nor were they somber. The lyrics were Satanic, sure, but the band sounded more like a casual metal band playing slowly rather than anything doomy or evil. The music, and especially the vocals, are far too cheerful for the generic evil lyrics to carry any weight at all. There are some good riffs, but there’s no atmosphere, no mood, and to top it off, the audio quality is really poor. Not a bad release by any means, as all the songs are at least decent, but Pentagram brought absolutely nothing to the table even in 1985, and it certainly doesn’t hold up today.

Warthur Buyer beware: this is basically Pentagram's self-titled debut, given a new title and a scrambled track listing, so if you already have that you don't need this. I will reiterate it here what I said about it on the review page for the original release for convenience's sake.

This came out a full ten years after the initial 1970s demos on which the band honed their sound, but sonically speaking the spirit of those early recordings lives on in this unapologetic throwback to the 1970s. Bobby Liefling's vocals are perfect for the rock, drugs and wild living image of the band whilst Victor Griffin's incredibly heavy riffing rivals that of Tony Iommi at his doomiest. The album might have been preceded by classic doom metal releases by Saint Vitus, Trouble and Cirith Ungol in the previous year, but those who've listened to collections such as First Daze Here know that Pentagram mastered the style well before these others. With this excellent debut, they proved that they held onto that mastery into the 1980s.

siLLy puPPy RELENTLESS is basically the re-release of the eponymous debut album by PENTAGRAM with the tracks in a different order. It doesn't change my opinion of it and is only released in this format these days:

Bobby Liebling started PENTAGRAM all the way back in 1971 but despite being fairly big in the underground music circuit they never managed to really take off due to constant lineup changes and legal issues. In 1979 he called it quits and moved on. Meanwhile bassist Lee Abney and guitarist Victor Griffin recruited drummer Joe Hasselvander to form another doom metal band named Death Row. They quickly found Bobby Liebling who would be the vocalist. After Abney being replaced by Martin Swaney and Hasselvander being replaced by Stuart Rose, the band finally had a stable lineup and chose to change the name to PENTAGRAM. The band was resurrected from the ashes and this time it was for good.

PENTAGRAM has always been the kings of procrastination. This album was recorded all the way back in 1982 and although released as a demo, Bobby Liebling felt no rush to release it as a full-fledged album. I guess he may have figured that after so much time why not just take the time to do it right. This album would be re-released in 1993 and retitled RELENTLESS with the tracks being switched around. It has also found a home as a double discker with “Day Of Reckoning.” Despite all this confusion, the band known as PENTAGRAM finally had an album!

The music is an early doom metal revival very much of the Black Sabbath variety. In fact I don't really think they distinguish themselves enough for my tastes on this debut. Another aspect of this debut is i'm not really enthralled with Liebling's vocal style. When played after an early Sabbath album this just doesn't match up to the intensity of theirs. I find this album a tad disappointing simply because these guys had so many years in different bands to come up with better material but I don't dislike this totally. Overall it's a decent start to a delayed career and the albums would get better and better. The album starts off a little slow for me but picks up by the end making this a nice listen. “20 Buck Spin” found a new life after being in the vaults since the early 70s. Despite it not being my favorite PENTAGRAM album it still seems like an essential listen simply because of its influence on the whole doom metal subgenre.

Time Signature All your sins...

Genre: doom metal / stoner rock / traditional metal

Originally released in 1985 as "Pentagram" with a differently ordered tracklist, "Relentless" is a collection of old school doom metal, and it's f*cking damn awesome!

The songs are simple, dark and heavy. They may not be as slow as present-day doom metal, but they're still very heavy and have a sluggish punch to them; just check out "Death Row", "All Your Sins" (which sounds like something Cathedral listened to extensively in the early days of their career), "The Ghoul", "Sinister" (the epitome of really old school doom metal), "You're Lost, I'm Free", and the Led-Zeppelin-depressed-on-valium-like "20 Buck Spin". Other tracks are upbeat and even catchy, like the awesome "Sign of the Wolf (Pentagram)", Relentless, "Run My Cause" (which sounds like non-sloppy Hellhammer", "The Deist" and "Dying World" - these tracks are quite rocking, but they're still characterized by the dark atmosphere that pervades the entire album.

Unlike a lot of other 80s and 90s doom metal acts, who took a rather epic approach, there is more of a 70s feel to the music on this album (given that Pentagram were formed in 1971, a lot of the tracks were probably written in the 70s), and Pentagram have more in common with Black Sabbath, St. Vitus and Witchfinder General than with, say, Candlemass. Bobby Liebling has very much a 70s rock belter, and a lot of the riffage has a 70s groove to it. Actually, there is a bit of a stoner edge (an oxymoron, I know) to the music on this album. Unlike a lot of other do-called stoner doom bands (whose music is typically just 'stoner' and not very 'doom'), Pentagram manage to perfectly balance doom 'n' gloom with spliff 'n' zoot. A lot of stoner doom is just about bong-ripping, but Pentagram is more like bong-ripping with Satan in a haunted cemetery.

The lyrical content is also very dark, dealing with death, domination, werewolves, satanism, and a lot of other jolly things.

"Relentless" is recommended to fans of doom metal and stoner rock, because it's awesome. Oh, and you don't have to be high to enjoy it - I don't smoke weed, and I still think it's awesome music.