Rating: 9.7

Country: USA

Release Date: 2005

Track list:
1. Death Row
2. All Your Sins
3. Sign Of The Wolf
4. The Ghoul
5. Relentless
6. Run My Course
7. Sinister
8. The Deist
9. You’re Lost, I’m Free
10. Dying World
11. 20 Buck Spin

Band Website: Pentagram

Pentagram - Relentless (Reissue)

Bobby Liebling- Vocals
Victor Griffin- Guitars
Marty Swaney- Bass
Joe Hasselvander- Drums

I'd like to preface this review with a statement: why on earth do you people compare Pentagram to Black Sabbath, or, indeed, ANY band that plays slow, evil, ponderous metal to Black Sabbath? While I respect the fact that both Pentagram and Black Sabbath harbour and mine somewhat similar territory as far as thematic concerns and musical approach go, the two are so blatantly different from one another aesthetically that it is truly unfathomable why such a comparison arises with such alarming regularity. Certainly, the same argument can be used with other doom greats like Witchfinder General, Pagan Altar, Revelation, Saint Vitus, and any number of fucking amazing bands that certainly drank at the Sabbath wellspring of inspiration, but carved musical legacies that were obviously distinct from the Iommi blueprint.

Pentagram, of course, is the foremost example of this, considering the fact that Liebling's brainchild has existed in numerous incarnations the late ‘60s/early ‘70s, including Death Row, Macabre, Stone Bunny and Pentagram. In a just world, Pentagram would be just as revered as metal's arch druids of doom as forefathers of bludgeoning, heavy sludge, and while I hesitate to say that Pentagram are of the same quality as the first 7 Sabbath records (the first 6 of which constitute the top 6 of my FAVORITE ALBUMS EVARRRR list), they certainly are one of the greatest, and most immediately distinct bands in heavy metal. Really, any attempts to peg them as “Sabbath copyists” is an exercise in misguided ignorance, and any similarities that are shared between the two are merely cosmetic/superficial for the most part.

Of course, I can assure you that if you enjoy Sabbath as much as I do, you either a) worship Pentagram already, or b) would cream, then soil your pants upon the first few seconds of this record. The modus operandi of both bands is largely the same- evil, oppressively heavy, unrelentingly bleak and sickeningly dark heavy metal preoccupied with death and the supernatural. However, Pentagram are far less subtle, far less diverse in approach than Sabbath have ever been, and their pronounced emphasis on sledgehammer riffing, mammoth bass and punishing rhythms lend them a barbaric edge that is even *more* pronounced than much Sabbath material (imagine that, eh?). Yes, like Vitus, Pentagram distilled and encapsulated the bleakest and rawest aspects of riff-oriented rock n' roll and siphoned this essence through some of the most disgusting examples of primordial r'n'r bestiality ever.

You will, of course, if you own the 'First Daze' compilation (which leads me to question why you don't own this, but oh well), notice that some of this material has surfaced before on the ‘70s singles. In all frankness though, the Pentagram presented here is even more diabolical than the galloping hell stallion captured on 'First Daze' Here, with the boggy, swampy guitar sound being turned up to a fucking 11, and Plugie Liebling exerting his inimitable vocal personality with more force/gusto than ever before.

Of course, the addition of percussion behemoth Joe Hasselvander, bassist Marty Swaney and riffmeister Victor Griffin have had a PRONOUNCED effect on the Pentagram experience- each musician brings a distinct dimension to the band, and even on this virgin experience, one is made aware of the tremendous capacities of the entire band. Hasselvander's drumming is positively BARBARIC, his heavy-handed thud, rumbling rolls and bone-rattling kick drum providing a brutal basis upon which the songs are built. Victor Griffin conjures a tremendous, unearthly drone of a guitar sound, and while solos don't feature extensively in Pentagram recordings, virtually every solo to Griffin's name (and that's including Place of Skulls and whatnot), has been an ethereal, melodically literate, brilliantly expressed affair cohered through a hazy cloud of dreamy soporifia, presenting a graceful counterpoint to the bludgeoning proceedings. Marty Swaney, while being the least flamboyant member of the Pentagram ensemble, does precisely what a bassist NEEDS to do, holding down the groove and rumbling rhythms with pronounced assuredness, while chucking in the occasional fill that exhibits his musical sensitivity. And then, we have Bobby Liebling, easily one of the most brilliant vocalists in rock n' roll. Harnessing the rhythmic phrasings and exceptionally melodic sensibilities of rock n' roll and be-bop's ancient greats while injecting an idiosyncratic, utterly inimitable personality/quirkiness into everything he does, Plugie's influence has gone virtually neglected until it surfaced recently in outspoken replicas like Magnus of Witchcraft.

So yeah. “Death Row” is vintage Penta-madness, blunt, pummelling, pounding, absolutely MERCILESS riffing, stumbling caveman cantankerousness, gnarly Neolithic aggression, grippingly morbid lyrical content. “All Your Sins” orients itself around haplessness in the face of divine judgement, the churning, grinding riffing providing a flawless musical complement to the impenetrable hopelessness of the lyrics. Album standout “Sign Of The Wolf”, meanwhile, provides a but of a reprieve from the cruel, asphyxiating smog of the previous two numbers, a rocking, pulsating beast that provides a highly visual explication of the Pentagram concept (look at the cover, then read the lycanthropy-by-way-of-Faust lyrics). “The Ghoul” is a crawling, sprawling, mauling call from the grave, a marauding servant of the undead resurrected to rape and ravage, while “Sinister” is animalistic blare to the nth degree, a gloriously sluggish riff supplemented with some seriously infernal lyrics that read like a darker, seedier, “N.I.B.”.

Sabbath were never this blatant, this direct and unapologetic with their demonic leanings, nor were they this abrasive with their musical approach. This is just harsh, harsh, FUCKING HARSH, groin-churning, gutwrenching sheets of volcanic guitar augmented with earthshaking, tectonic-plate-shifting bass, primal, primitive percussion, all of which is given more emotional depth via Liebling's anguished, wailing sobs. The production of this record, while very much indicative of an independent, low-budget rookie recording, does much to add to the misanthropic, acerbic edge of Relentless, as well as amplify the spontaneity and vital vigour of Pentagram's ‘70s leanings. Everything here is caustic and dripping with venom, and there is a strange dichotomy between the morose morbidity and decay of the lyrical content and the “alive” urgency of the production, which very much seems to translate the Pentagram experience on to disc.

So yeah. Total brilliance. Buy or die. All that stuff. Your collection is not complete without this.

December 8th, 2005