Pentagram : Lightning In A Bottle : Review

Pentagram : Lightning In A Bottle : Review

Pentagram – Lightning In A Bottle

Doom metal pioneers, Pentagram return with their tenth studio album; the first in 10 years and one which sees founding member Bobby Liebling return with a brand new lineup.

For anyone new to the band Pentagram formed way back in 1971, and alongside the bands Trouble, Saint Vitus and Candlemass, they’re considered to be one of the cornerstones of the sub-genre and the natural successors to doom metal godfathers, Black Sabbath. Pentagram however have continued to produce music which is much more than simply doom metal and this album is no exception.

From the opening bars of the opening track, Live Again, we get driving, grooving, grungy, fuzzy, psychedelic doom that struts along as though it’s just walked straight out of 1975. Moreover, for a man of 71 years old who has led an incredibly colourful life, Liebling sounds great and we’re off to a great start. The album drives and powers through the next few songs and we can hear the influence of the last 50 years of rock music pouring from the speakers. Imagine if Black Sabbath had formed in 1969 in Southern California rather than Birmingham and were jamming with Blue Cheer, Steppenwolf and Hendrix and you’d be somewhere near.

Into track four, Dull Pain, the album drops back a gear into sombre melodic rock which is followed by the dark, swirling, trippy Lady Heroin which could almost be Pink Floyd meets Black Sabbath and I’m here for it! Bobby Liebling is a man who has really lived a life; his struggles with drugs and crime are well documented and these themes are not shied away from here. After this atmospheric lull the album is off again, driving through song after song of grooving, fuzzy, heavy doom; the bulldozing Thundercrest and the almost Zeppelinesque stand out track Spread Your Wings before the LP closes out with another dark brooding song, Walk The Sociopath. The CD and digital versions have additional bonus tracks so after a suitably long second or two pause we begin to build back into driving melodic hard rock, the aptly titled Start The End, and then we round the album out with the great bluesy, psych rock song, Might Just Wanna Be Your Fool. The CD also contains the demo for the song Lady Heroin as an additional bonus track.

To describe this album as doom “metal” is really not doing it justice at all. Certainly the doom elements and the unapologetic “Ozzy era” Black Sabbath influence is here, but it’s so much more than that. It’s doom metal, heavy metal, hard rock, classic rock, blues rock, psych/acid rock, progressive rock, it’s all these things refracted through the lens of a band that have been making music for over 50 years. The production is great; the drums sound raw and real, we’ve got great sounding classic rock/metal fuzzy guitars and for a man of his years and the life he has led, Bobby sounds stellar and the double tracked lead vocal throughout gives the album a real psychedelic feel.

One slight criticism might be that some of the transitions from section to section in certain songs are a bit rough in places but this almost adds to the “live and loose’ feel. If you’re already a fan you’re probably gonna love it, but if you’re new to the band and have been put off by the label “doom metal” don’t be; If you’re a fan of 60s/70s Psych/Acid Rock, 70s Heavy Metal and bands like Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer and Steppenwolf or even more modern bands like Soundgarden and Alice In Chains I’m sure you’ll find something here to like.

Rating: 8/10 – Excellent
Label: Heavy Psych Sounds Records

Wayne McAloon | Now spinning Magazine

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