Pentagram
Sub-Basement
Black Widow
Metal legends Pentagram’s turbulent career stretches back to the early 1970s, and is marked by a series of personnel changes and years of inactivity. Today, vocalist Bobby Liebling is the single remaining original member, while his long-time collaborator, the multi-talented Joe Hasselvander, plays all the instruments on this release. Shifting between the grind of Black Sabbath and the hysterical time- and pitch-changes of King Diamond, Pentagram creates something truly unique, while all the same hinting at a myriad of styles ranging from power- to prog-metal. The best songs on this release are easily the re-recorded Pentagram classics, but the more complex, grandiose new songs are certainly impressive enough as well. There’s a Spinal Tap-ish theatricality to many of the tracks, and Pentagram surely wouldn’t have it any other way. This is overtly dramatic, in-and-around-your-face metal from a band that’s finally beginning to receive some of the respect that it so rightly deserves.
Black Widow Records: http://www.blackwidow.it