By Jim Rowland
When it comes to doom metal, they don’t come much more legendary and influential than pioneers Pentagram. Led by the infamous Bobby Liebling, Pentagram has been around in one form or another for over fifty years now, enchanting new sets of fans as each new generation comes along. Now Liebling is back with a new line-up and some ‘Lightning In A Bottle’, the first new album from Pentagram since 2015’s ‘Curious Volume’ ten years ago.
We last heard from Bobby Liebling was in 2021 with the excellent ‘Caveman Logic’ album from the ‘supergroup’ project The Limit, but now he is back under the Pentagram banner with a brand new line-up of the band featuring guitarist/producer Tony Reed (Mos Generator, Big Scenic Nowhere) taking up six-string duties, Scooter Haslip (also of Mos Generator) arriving on bass and Henry Vasquez (Saint Vitus, Legions of Doom, Blood of the Sun) on drums.
With ‘Live Again’ and ‘In The Panic Room’ kicking things off with a distinctly Sabbath-esque swagger, this is heavy stuff in the finest of Pentagram traditions. The likes of ‘I Spoke To Death’, ‘Dull Pain’, ‘Spread Your Wings’ and the dark and disturbing ‘Lady Heroin’ evoke the spirit of classic, big-riffing Pentagram of old, the title-track shows this new line-up can groove with the best of them, and the crushing, twisted doom of ‘Walk The Sociopath’ contain a few riffs Tony Iommi would be proud of.
With Tony Reed taking the helm, this new line-up has breathed new life into the old warhorse, and Bobby Liebling’s undeniable charm remains intact. Whilst obviously not up there with the original classics like ‘Pentagram’/’Relentless’ or ‘Day Of Reckoning’, ‘Lightning In A Bottle’ is a damn fine effort indeed, taking the Pentagram legacy forward with spirit and reverence.
- ‘Lightning In A Bottle’ is released tomorrow (Friday 31 July).
- All content © Über Rock. Not to be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of Über Rock.