Day of Reckoning

Day of Reckoning is Pentagram's second album, made just two years after their esteemed 1985 debut. I've been sticking to reviewing their later albums because the first three LPs from this band are classics, so what else can or should really be said about this one? Well, I'll tell you right now that this is my favorite Pentagram album, and I'd go so far as to say it's one of the greatest doom albums of all time.

This album was originally released with a different mix and tracklist. When the first two LPs were reissued under Peaceville Records, the debut was renamed Relentless and Day of Reckoning's drums were redone. While Relentless was generally improved due to its remaster and reordering, I can't honestly say the same benefits were applied to Day of Reckoning. On the reissue, it sounds as if Joe Hasselvander used the same kit as on Be Forewarned. The drum tracks are well-done and well-produced, but in my opinion, do not fit the mix quite right, seeming to float in a separate aural space. The drums on the original version were just fine in my opinion, they sound consistent with the rest of the mix. The tracklist on the reissue was also switched around, and again, I must reiterate that the original is better. The flow of the tracks on the original version, starting with the title track into Broken Vows and ending with Evil Seed into Wartime, is impeccable. All in all, the album isn't hurt too much by the changes but I highly, highly recommend that you track down a copy of the original mix, because the drums fit, everything sounds a little more analog and real, and the tracklist flows much better.

With that out of the way, let's discuss the content of this release. This is prime traditional doom delivered by one of the genre's pioneers, and they know exactly what they're doing. Every song on here is great, but satanic epic Burning Savior and the Sabbath-worshipping duo Evil Seed and Broken Vows shine especially bright. One positive change of the reissue is that Broken Vows got a harmony lead guitar track, which I must admit does enhance the impact of the solo.

70s tracks Madman, Day of Reckoning, and When the Screams Come appear here in all their bluesy, gloomy glory. They're doomified impeccably, and fit into the tracklist perfectly. When the Screams Come is one of the greatest proto-doom songs ever written and I'm glad Bobby was able to vocalize a great rendition of it on here before his voice changed.

One drawback to this album is that there's less songs than Relentless and Be Forewarned, but the songwriting on here is super strong. There's not a single skippable moment on here, not one song you'll wanna miss. There's also not a lot of fat on the songs, either. No time is wasted with songs about sexy vampires or anything like that. There are no filler tracks and no filler passages within these songs. Although Burning Savior does rely heavily on a certain chromatic riff towards the end, it is done quite epicly and uses satisfying effects to make the passage more exciting.

Doom metal is often pigeonholed as slow, brooding, and sad. But this album actually is quite dynamic with its pace. The title track is downright upbeat, so is Madman. Evil Seed and When The Screams Come are the two slowest tracks and they milk the shit out of that aspect (in a good way). Otherwise, it's pretty mid-paced for the most part.

Bobby is in top form on this album. He doesn't put on quite as good of a performance as on Be Forewarned, but he definitely sells it. Victor Griffin gives us catchy riff after catchy riff, and plays some sizzling solos, with Burning Savior being the highlight of his lead guitar work. Martin Swaney plays with a nice trebley bass tone which sits nicely in the mix and is hearable on every song, but noticeable especially during a couple Geezer-esque melodic fills. The original drums sound good, as stated previously. I won't say they sound amazing, since they're a little thin, but they're certainly not bad enough to have been redone. It really sucks that they wrote Stuart Rose out of Pentagram history by removing his drums because he plays with a lot of personality and does a great job.

Need more be said? This is top shelf 80s doom metal right here. It's not just solid, it's masterfully crafted. Some point to the archetypal doom on Relentless as Pentagram's apex, while others prefer the heavy production and tasty riffage on Be Forewarned. I love those albums too, but they've got their flaws, and it's so very hard to find any in Day of Reckoning.

Pentagram further embraced heavy metal by time they re-emerged in the 80's, since self-titled, a.k.a. Relentless has got more emphatic metal riffing than anything featured on the First Daze Here rehearsal demos (I hope I will be forgiven for bringing up the compilations as source material since they're my only exposure to the music, being a younger fan). However, what they followed it up with in 1987, the 34-minute LP Day of Reckoning, introduced the sound that makes Pentagram a relevant band to this day (you have bad taste if you don't think they're still relevant), by actually regressing a bit to their 70's self but with more Master of Reality type heaviness. This album right here is essential doom structured concisely and perfectly. It's the perfect metal album all around and astonishingly accessible. Before I dive into the songs here, I've also got to say that Day of Reckoning is the sheer proof that doom metal substantiates much more of the formative years of now standardized metal subgenres than anyone gives it credit for - this is, along with Candlemass, Trouble, and Saint Vitus albums released around this time, the culmination of 80's doom. I recall some 50 year old groove-thrash knucklehead once telling me doom metal wasn't a known thing in the metal world till the late 90's, and Type O Negative was this guy's idea of a doom band. That's hilarious because I don't think Pentagram would be writing songs like "Evil Seed" with such burnt out delivery and ominous melodies if they didn't know they were onto something yet. The Skull existed by 1985 for crying out loud and "Pray For the Dead" sure isn't USPM. And for god's sake, Candlemass' first album from 1986 literally has doom metal in the title.

So yeah, the songs on Day of Reckoning, they've got balls! The title track is really an intense, driving banger that makes one "review (their) choices" in life, so to speak. It's really proof of how no one understands doom metal, because that song is forth-charging in a way that projects slothiness without actually being really slow at all, thanks to the power chord battering ram of Victor Griffin's riffing in between Bobby's vocal lines. Not to mention, the melodies in the bridge are doom as fuck. "Evil Seed", though, as mentioned above, is where the album slows down for the first time, having a typical early Sabbath riff during the intro and chorus, but being entirely bass and drum-driven during the verse. Again, the doomy melodies shine through much more than on Relentless, lending an introspective feel to the music. "Evil Seed" seems so have lyrics concerned with being led on by a woman only to be manipulated or dumped, which suffice it to say was relatable in my high school days.

The take home point of the latter paragraph is that the album opens with a damn fine one-two punch, but delivers yet another duo of fantastic doom standards in "Broken Vows" (which seems to be about moving past strife such as that brought up in the previous track) and "When the Screams Come", one of the band's oldest songs but once again defining doom metal further this time around. "Burning Savior" is of course the fierce centerpiece here, and it's a lot of people's favorite Pentagram song. You gotta love Bobby's downcast vocal delivery during the refrain on this one, and once again Victor's riffs are total slugs that pack a massive haymaker of a punch. Martin Swaney is also a better bassist than most would give him credit for, and drummer Joe Hasslevander is an unsung hero all around (though apparently some other guy recorded drums for a couple tracks on some versions of Day of Reckoning, I forget the exact details). Oh, and "Wartime" is the stoic closer every classic metal album needs of course.

FUCK. Again, I'm a youngin, so I'm reviewing the now-standard reissued track-listing. It wasn't always this way, though. If I remember correctly, "Day of Reckoning" was still the opener on the original issuing, but "Evil Seed" was way later on in the album. "Madman" was weirdly stuck in the middle of the record too. So yeah, the reissued track-listing is better paced but all the songs here are excellent, bar-none ESSENTIAL doom, so it doesn't matter too much how you organize them, as listening to the Turn to Stone compilation from Peaceville Records reveals. That CD has a lot of their best songs on it, and it starts with "Petrified" from Be Forewarned which is a mid-paced deep cut.

Now, I've already essentially said this, but it doesn't really get any better than Day of Reckoning musically. Review Your Choices is generally doomier and heavier (and my #1 favorite), while Be Forewarned is a hell of a lot more varied and complete, perhaps even more creatively bright, but Day of Reckoning is just it, man. You need this record and you have no excuses for not owning it that aren't related to finances. It's accessible. It's doomy. It's good.

As the underground was forged throughout the 1980s, an explosion wrought in the crucible of punk, it took a special discipline to go against that grain. It may have gathered a larger following of tourists in the 2000s, but back then it was doom metal was decidedly not cool. The impact this had on traditional versions of the form played out in a number of ways. Whether it was the murky boisterousness of Saint Vitus, the unapologetic bombast of Candlemass, or the drabness of Pentagram. Away from the distractions of the extremity arms race of this time, it offers an interesting perspective on metal’s quest to overcome its routes. To shed the rock and blues origins that defined the proto metal of the 1970s.

Pentagram are a band that should need no introduction here. Their second full length offering, 1987’s ‘Day of Reckoning’, reaches even further back, combining the suffocating doom of Sabbath with a sheen of Americana and roadhouse rock that would later become a staple of modern stoner doom. If Trouble took their cues from British heavy metal, Pentagram place their influences very firmly within classic rock and blues. When they do pick up the tempo, the outrageous simplicity to the riffs is borrowed more from punk than anything else. They shun the twin lead attack that had become a requirement in heavy metal by the mid 1980s. This more minimalist approach not only emphasises the drabness and sparsity of the riffs, but allows them to explore the spaces within this music.

For this reason, tone and layering would become much more important to stoner doom than it would for heavy metal, whose priority was always first and foremost to the riffs and their relationship to one another. Take any of the solos on ‘Day of Reckoning’ as an illustration of this. The melodic core has been hollowed out for the sake of creating a break with the music that preceded it, a contrast and not a progression, usually achieved by dropping out the rhythm guitar and applying liberal delay, in order to squeeze as much as humanly possible from each note. Whether this works or not is entirely dependant on how it links up with the music that surrounds it. It can offer an escalation of the drama, and provide a build into the next theme to be unpacked. Alternatively it can simply stop the music dead while we listen to what sounds like effects peddle fiddling. On ‘Day of Reckoning’ Pentagram achieve mixed results with this approach. ‘Burning Saviour’ is a great example of a gradual and patient progression of an idea from start to finish, that sees them once again attempt to transcend the proto-metal that birthed it, and empty space is used to comment and frame the riffs. ‘Broken Vows’ by contrast, although sounding ridiculously on trend despite being released in 1987, meanders without really taking the listener anywhere from start to finish.

Drums are again battling between the cheer of a bouncy groove, and a more straightforward rhythmic framework in which to augment complex fills and interplay with the guitars characteristic of metal. Liebling’s ghoulish vocals are as consistent as ever. Flexed with the bittersweet religious anxiety that characterised a lot of early metal. Despite its shortcomings as a work that taps into the epic and eternal spirit of metal, one has to admire the focus and streamlining that went into this release. The fact it is mastering two competing musical traditions into a unified work of apocalyptic doom metal is to be celebrated. The only major shortcoming being its tendency to dwell on layering guitar tones at the cost of advancing the narrative core of the music. The hordes of imitators that would later follow in Pentagram’s wake would be far more guilty of this however, and they remain a considerable cut above their many imitators.

Despite the class and charm to ‘Day of Reckoning’ however, one cannot help but conclude that it was an album that was holding metal back. There are many ways to buck the trend and swim against the tide of history, but looking even further to the past for answers without adding much in the way of originality or substance is not the favoured method to go about it.

Originally published at Hate Medtitations

In my long-winded review of Pentagram's sole disappointment, 2011's Last Rites, I rattled off the majority of the D.C. Doom legend's stand-out studio releases save one: 1987's exceptional Day Of Reckoning courtesy of Napalm Records (re-released in 2005 on CD under the reputable Peaceville label), my favorite 'gram recording aside from the groundbreaking First Daze Here (compilation) from 2002, which stands in a class of its own.

Judas Priest's "Exciter" may win the golden palm for best "heavy metal" opener before the genre's flood gates flew open; alternatively, my vote for stockiest "doom metal" opener goes straight to Pentagram's unholiest of Devil dancing hip-shakers, "Day Of Reckoning". Alongside Martin Swaney's throbbing, throttling bass line in tandem with new-coming guitar hero Victor Griffin's lugubriously mesmerizing pentatonic darkness, Bobby Liebling is aflame:

"Now take your last look the world's about to fall
Your efforts are useless to move a brick wall
You didn't seem to listen to a thing I say
I think that today will become your day

So open your eyes to which path to take
The man's gunna laugh as your resistance he breaks
Butchers and cowards they've been running your life
This day is for reckoning if you wish to survive!

Breakdown!

So why don't you open your eyes to which path to take
The devil will laugh as your resistance he breaks
Please be strong stretch your arms down at length
He'll dance in the flames he thrives on your strength!""

While the lyrical content's condensed, the opposite's true of the diabolically enchanting instrumentation, from an eerie and scratchy guitar shuffle to mightily haranguing guitar riff following "Breakdown!", Griffin is in top shape especially on his down-to-earth, no frills solo after the last verse - definitely one of his best leads, be it with Pentagram or his later outfit, Place Of Skulls. In terms of bass, Swaney is phenomenal throughout. While 1970s Pentagram featured a laid-back and groovy Greg Mayne (remember "Lazy Lady"? Zoinks!) the late 80s took a turn for the gloomier and mildly (as opposed to overtly) gregarious with the auspicious hard-driving trio of Griffin/Swaney/Joe Hasselvander (on drums) and a cantankerous Bobby L. tearing up the mike like a resigned Mick Jagger - minus the cattle prod this time around...

Also of note is how Hasselvander beat the skins on "Burning Savior" only. For some reason, the other six are handled by Stuart Rose (R.I.P), and nicely at that. You'd be hard pressed to notice any difference between the two. Day Of Reckoning (the album) appears to have been born under a bad star - a good thing in this case.

With only seven tracks topping out at thirty-four minutes, these "burning saviors" make every second count; effectively, you'll be compelled to replay this without exterior prodding. "Broken Vows" is another go-to track of mine, as I can't get enough of Bobby's despondent and darkly introspective ramblings and Griffin's super commanding, wavy riff half a minute in. Simple in its structure, it slays by way of sheer bad ass conviction, perfectly underlying Bobby's epic prose. Griffin's poised solo and Rose's dense drum out-take only serve to heighten an already gloomy but fun experience. "Madman" hits like a ten-ton hammer of doom while you're still recovering from Day Of Reckoning's twin ass-kicking openers. Again, the rhythm section supplements an ideal backdrop for team Griffin/ Liebling's overtures thanks to Rose's tactful pummeling and Swaney's bass line, which pokes around like Seth's staff while keeping a respectable distance - great stuff.

The only 1970s/ Vincent McAllister (RIP) reprise is "When The Screams Come", considered a top Pentagram gem by fans far and wide. Simply put, this track is awesome! Varying between a sardonically wonky opening guitar riff - which will lodge itself in your skull without missing a beat -, honky cow bell and a jangling jam/ solo following Bobby's unforgettable and demonic "You've entered hell I guess and weren't so cool/ NOW SATAN MAKES YOUR RULES!" "When The Screams Come" is not to be missed! I don't know what it is exactly about this track but it encompasses everything I love about Pentagram, be it Bobby's diabolical vocals or minions' slackly fierce musical prowess.

The track placement is spot-on. From the 2.5 minute opener to the incremental nine-minute eulogy of "Burning Saviors" (which includes more of Griffin's pentatonic wizardry in the form of spastically amped solos) and revved up romp & stomp of a closer, "Wartime", Day Of Reckoning, along with the 1985 self-titled dirge and Be Forewarned from 1994, represents Pentagram in top form after a decade long hiatus. Who would have thought the D.C. legends would carry on well into the new millennium alongside a rising generation of doom metal purveyors? It must've been written in the stars…I almost forgot to mention "Evil Seed". While it gets off to a slow and cumbersome start, fear not as both Swaney and Griffin knock this one out of the park with their respectively brooding and soaring leads three minutes in or so.

As a parting note, I've always dug Pentagram cover art but I must say this architecturally pleasing church/ mausoleum montage is a fresh change from usual "satanic imagery" i.e the covers for Pentagram ('85) and Review Your Choices ('99). Either way, repent for Day Of Reckoning!

Pentagram, for me, is a great band with a couple of obvious problems. The first problem is that they didn't manage to put out their music at the time they were actually writing most of it. Call it what you will, be it luck, mismanagement, drugs, internal problems, or lack of interest, but the band that resurfaced in the 80s didn't resemble the band that went under in the 70s, nor would I be writing about them in the same way if they did. The second problem is that the same basic inconsistencies that lead a band to any of these problems have also dogged them since the reformation and release of the debut album. I don't believe that Pentagram would have been as big as Black Sabbath or as revered as Candlemass, since they don't sit at either end of the doom metal pantheon for enough time to achieve any particular niche. Always low-pitched and distorted, their sound is neither mired in the crawl of depressed doom, nor flung into the spine-tingling exultation of the more spiritual variety.

This album annoys me more than a little because of what so clearly could have been. Gone are the issues with sound and production on the debut, which was recorded in such a way that little finesse could be added to the songs and the slower numbers suffered in the lo-fi mix. Here, the sound is very close to what would emerge on 'Be Forewarned', except that the drum sound is slightly softer (i.e. the snare is regular rather than a whip crack) and Bobby Liebling's vocals sit just a tad further from the front of the action. Simply put, it's the production that Pentagram always needed and allows the four guys playing to include skill, excitement, and emotion with each of their instruments. They waste some of this potential though, by being slower (actually doomier than usual) than the preceding and following albums, relying on an atmosphere that isn't always there, and crafting songs without defined identities. This is my gripe: doesn't 'Evil Seed' remind you of 'Hand of Doom'? Haven't you heard 'When the Screams Come' somewhere before, and I don't mean on 'First Daze Here', where it's original version is remarkably similar to the 1987 version? There are some songs that just aren't that creative, which make the distinctive ones sound so much more exciting. If this album was long, like 'Be Forewarned', and those songs gave different moods and aspects to the album, I wouldn't complain nearly so much, but this album has seven songs and falls short of 35 minutes, so if we are forced to retread old ground for 10 minutes, there's clearly not much new material to digest. Rant over - on to the positives.

Victor Griffin's guitar is a big feature on 'Day of Reckoning', more with the leads, melodies, and additional parts than with the riffs, which are often more hard rock-based than heavy metal. His approach is predominantly a simple one, over which he can add further simple layers of decoration and atmosphere, as evidenced by the echoey, dreamy solos that he indulges in on songs like 'When the Screams Come' and 'Madman'. He also uses a lot of effect in these parts, so they drift by, but the faster building sections of the title track and 'Burning Savior' produce a rush of adrenaline and a foreboding of something approaching that is un-doomlike yet very apt for the genre. Martin Swaney's bass thrusts and jabs like an old woman with a broomstick and keeps the sound powerful when Griffin is playing melodies by himself; the album sounds much better and livelier for his contribution. The drums are apparently provided mostly by Stuart Rose, but they sound similar to Joe Hasselvander's style that the band would rely on before long. Much busier and uptempo than most doom drumming, the snare's rhythm is key to the pace of the songs, while the march of 'Wartime' is perfectly regulated and turns an easy song and riff into a true pleasure, not to mention the chaos when the pace starts to pick up. Liebling is, as I mentioned, a little quiet, though this suits some of the lazier songs, where his defiant proclamations might spoil the atmosphere: in fact, he sounds like he is really singing with the band rather than on his own whim, which is a stark contrast to his rabid performance on some of the other 80s material.

The songs are where I decide whether or not I like this album, because, arguably, all of the performances exceed the quality of all Pentagram's other work, Griffin's merciless riffing on 'Be Forewarned' aside. There are three excellent songs: the first, the last, and the epic. The title track is swift, taking a moment to set up and then bouncing off on a James Bond/Mission Impossible riff (you'll understand when you hear it), before building up to a great breakdown - the whole thing is over before you realise it's begun. 'Wartime' is the best organised song on the album and it sprawls in a way that a five minute track really has no right to do, moving through many moods and includes the best riffs of the album. 'Burning Savior' takes its nine minutes to heart and begins acoustically before going through the satanic woods and out the other side on a remarkably overblown solo that does exactly what Griffin should have done on '20 Buck Spin' from the previous album. I also rate 'Madman' and 'Broken Vows' pretty highly; then there are the two more derivative songs which I think should have been given more care and thought.

These guys have been cursed for most of their existence and still managed to turn out several excellent releases. 'Day of Reckoning' rates highly among them, though it does feel like an opportunity squandered, with at least the potential to have rivaled 'Be Forewarned' (for me, their greatest achievement). It stands high and is probably the most classic slice of doom that they have ever delivered, with the inclusion of some superb songs. Peaceville have also been key in the band's recent resurrection and new publicity, so I will mention that their re-releases of Pentagram's work are the ones that I own and have been compiled and creative with the utmost care and love.

It has been said that you have your entire life to make your debut album but only a couple years to make your second. Pentagram is a leading example of this trope with their sophomore full-length album coming out a mere two years after their very long-awaited debut. Fortunately, one can't accuse them of rushing too much as Day Of Reckoning just might be their greatest release.

The guys in Pentagram have always stated that they were more inspired by the likes of Blue Cheer than Black Sabbath, but Day Of Reckoning is where they went all out with an album that the Birmingham giants should've released between Master of Reality and Volume 4. The groovy "Broken Vows" and "When The Screams Come" are uncanny counterparts to "Supernaut" and "Snowblind" right down to the Iommi-aping guitar tone. They even lift a couple lines from classic Sabbath with "Evil Seed" invoking the opening line from "Sweet Leaf" and the pulsating "Wartime" mirroring a cry from "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath." The songwriting quality keeps things from being too derivative and the fact that Pentagram was one of their contemporaries certainly helps.

The diversity that encompasses the seven songs on here also adds to their enjoyment. While a good half of the album consists of groovy mid-tempo doom, the title track and "Madman" offer a more fuzzy, energetic approach. In contrast, "Burning Saviour" is one of the darkest Pentagram songs out there thanks to its shifts between foreboding acoustics and pounding outbursts all set to a nine minute dirge. On the flip side, "Wartime" may not be as gripping as the tracks before it and the bass still isn't that prominent, but these factors are easy to overlook.

Thus, Day of Reckoning is not only Pentagram's best album but one of the strongest that doom has to offer. The band retains the chemistry seen on Relentless but also trumps it by giving an improved production job to the perfect balance between their 70s heyday and the heavy Death Row sound. Sadly, the band folded before they could release a timely followup, leading one to wonder if they could've released something even better...

Highlights:
"Day Of Reckoning," "Evil Seed," "Broken Vows," and "When The Screams Come"

Originally published at http://psychicshorts.blogspot.com

It was a dark day in Scotland when I re-discovered the vague and distant glories of ‘Day of Reckoning’, the Irn Bru had turned from a sickly ginger to a shade of crimson, the locals with their fish-like faces puckered up in the cold, adopted a solemn and foreboding mood – in stark contrast to their usual pissed-up joviality. I was alone again with the Pentagram… and Holy Sepulchre was it frightening!

Long ago, I had neglected ‘Day of Reckoning’ for its sibling, ‘Be Forewarned’ (which to be frank is a thundering beast with sixteen hooves that will frankly slaughter any doom album outside of Sabbath’s first six). Although ‘Day of Reckoning’ is merely sulking amongst the tombstones rather than lifting up the caskets and fiddling with the dead, it’s still an immensely powerful doom album and certainly not one I should’ve avoided whilst twiddling around with darker arts.

As others have commented the production here is strange… distant almost. This is because the Pentagram cares not; it needn’t acknowledge your pitiful cries for the snare sound to be more refined. Pentagram is dark as space is deep… and dark (I’d like to thank Michael Moorcock for writing that for me). The guitar sound here is something very interesting – a murky, dreamy yet melodic tone emboldened by Victor’s use of frequent harmonisation. Notably the bass here really captures the essence of Geezer Butler’s early Sabbath style, the accenting of riffs and general use of some imagination in its craft harkens to the Butler-esque school of bass.

In short: if these guys were any closer to nailing the ‘Vol. 4’ sound they’d be setting Bill Ward on fire by the pool.

It is a source of some amusement for me that Pentagram use satanic imagery to great effect and generally has a very evil sound whilst much of their actual material is written from a staunchly Christian viewpoint. I suppose it’s the ultimate expression of Sabbath worship with its completely on-the-fence theological standpoint. But this very much appeals to me, as essentially I find religious views simply another way of annoying the hell out of people. Are the whiny Baptists about? I’ll fetch the inverted hot cross buns. Are the teen Satanists getting out of hand? Get me the book of Revelations and a pitcher of holy water! So once again, another clear reason why I’m starting to get a little obsessed by Pentagram. But whatever your standpoint is on the old God Vs Satan hootenanny, there is no denying – the old me would’ve put a “the cross?” related pun hear, but I’m a reformed man – that these lyrics are exceptional.

‘Day of Reckoning’ contains within its smelly and mildewed tomb one of the most beautifully strange songs in the whole of heavy metal, ‘Broken Vows’, mournful gargantuan guitars twist and wail amongst each other and Bobby Liebling’s vocals give the sentiments of a man who’s been there, done that and probably regretted most of it. The emotion in his voice is not conveyed by wailing, starlet vocal acrobatics (that simply must always equate a great vocalist!) but through an austere, understated voice and a simple dark repose in his mood. As metal’s eternal underachiever you can sense that the storm clouds are never far from Bobby’s head. In fact this song shows the album’s production working in its favour; the tight cracking snare gives a nice contrast to the smothering guitar sound.

‘Burning Saviour’ is the first Pentagram epic and quite a notable song with the smouldering combination of sparkly, spidery acoustic picking and the slow-burning crunchy guitar tones. This is really Victor’s time to shine and the pinnacle of his Sabbath worship in that it doesn’t just pick up on the more moribund aspects of Iommi either. For instance, see that massive riff at 4:27 could have been on a more rocky Sabbath song like ‘Sabbra Cadabra’ and at 5:21 there is a synthesiser (or possibly a heavily processed guitar) that recalls Geoff Nicholls’s work on ‘Die Young’. But there’s more! The guitar solo is combination of ‘Mob Rules’ era Iommi dynamic wah-wah and ‘Fast’ Eddie’s more earthy pentatonic ideas. There you go, now you can play spot the influence too, though I’ve done it for you… so this is like getting a colouring book that’s already been done as a present (damn you, Christmas 1994!). But strangely enough is that this is actually a Liebling composition, especially when we consider that he likes to downplay the Sabbath influence on Pentagram. Perhaps this was just a string of scarily accurate coincidences and Bobby was actually listening to ‘Summertime Blues’ the whole time.

Perhaps one reason I find Pentagram far superior to their much-lauded contemporaries such as the at times excellent but often unimaginative, Candlemass is their ability to deliver far more cohesive albums. Never once do I feel that lesser songs are simply hidden behind the greatness of better ones. Pentagram made albums, Candlemass do pop singles… or not. But the point to get from this is that ‘Day of Reckoning’ is an unfailing album, it doesn’t assume that it can simply earn its keep by being doom for the sake of it. Songs like ‘Madman’ use strange brisk melodic guitars and 70s style middle eights that you wouldn’t normally associate with doom metal. Another issue of importance is the variation in these seven songs, if I were going to further stress my Pentagram-fanboy-holds-a-somewhat-unhealthy-prejudice-towards-Candlemass I’d compare this to ‘Epicus Doomicus Metallicus’ whose six songs achieve far less. But then again that paved the way for a whole spate of largely lifeless ‘epic’ doom bands whereas this probably just provided Pentagram with more drug money and maybe a tin of hot dogs, if they were lucky. But still, the variation between the title track’s speedy assault and the gloomy drive of ‘Wartime’ is very enjoyable.

Though not quite as eternally doomed or desolate as ‘Be Forewarned’ (plug, plug, plug), ‘Day of Reckoning’ is not something to be sniffed at. All of the Death Row era ‘gram records are essential, magical records and this is the second and even as a literature student that’s maths even I can comprehend.

I often use the word "slow" or "slowed down" in reviews and expect the reader to derive positive connotations from it. I realize that in metal it typically goes the faster the better; or rather that was the stamp that NWOBHM and the subsequent thrash bands put on the genre. Sometimes this is the case sometimes it isn't. We tend to criticize bands who go from one extreme to a lesser extreme: Blind Guardian drew criticism- along with praise- by falling from speed metal to a more mid paced progressive/power metal.

It's misperception amongst some circles- not all mind- that slower songs are easier to play. And, essentially, that's true: slower songs are easier to play. They are not, however, easier to create. It takes a certain ear for sound to be able to put together a slower piece of metal and still captivate the listener. Sabbath flirted with the lines between up tempo and down tempo. It's the down tempo songs that fans most remember because of Iommi's particular ability to create entrancing riffs (helped by Butler's bass playing certaibly): Iron Man, Black Sabbath, War Pigs, The Wizard, etc. Wino (St Vitus, Hidden Hand, The Obsessed) is a veritable master of that exact same ideal. Plus he could sing which Iommi couldn't do to well.

Pentagram is inherently different from the two while portraying the same ideas. Their riffs are more melodically driven than Sabbath's. They play with harmony akin to Iron Maiden. Vocally Liebling is better than Ozzy, though not as good as Wino, and lyrically he dances between silly and passable. Certain lines from When the Screams Come are laughable which somehow doesn't detract from how absolutely spectacular that song is. Even given the production on the release I find the drum playing to be quite good, almost alike to how Dio used drums in his earlier records.

The production on the release isn't the greatest though I'm not sure what one expected from a not-so-mainstream band from the 70-80s to sound like. Fans of Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, St Vitus, and Mercyful Fate will probably find things they can like in this release; Candlemass fans could come to see their roots and New Wave fans can have some fun.

Hard to believe but the brilliance of this band’s 1985 debut was largely ignored in it’s day, which was surely bad news for Pentagram at the time. However when albums that good go unnoticed initially, they often become legendary over time, which is what has deservedly become of much of Pentagram’s work. It’s all the more true of Day of Reckoning, their sophomore text of doom, and perhaps the finest collection of songs these cats would ever offer our ears.

Whereas the debut clearly had Sabbath on its morbid mind, this number saw Pentagram shaking off that omnipresent influence and forging a more signature style. Said style arrives as the needle (or laser… needle in my case) hits the groove of the sinister title cut, an up tempo but foreboding cut which drips of Bobby Liebling’s sterling vocals and Victor Griffin’s truly demonic guitar work. An absolute classic, it may be Pentagram’s single best tune ever, which for this band is truly saying something.

Another awesome number is “Evil Seed”, which manages to acknowledge its psychic debt to Sabbath, and remain an absolute Pentagram classic all the same (the point where Liebling cries forth “all right now… won’t you listen?” ala “Sweet Leaf” is a great moment). Two absolute epics appear as well, those being “Burning Savior” and “Wartime”, both of which demonstrate what skillful writers and players this band had become. The whole affair is blessed by clearer production than the fuzzy sounding debut, and if I had to pick one Pentagram disc to take to a desert island, it would have to be this.

Again largely unheralded in its day, this is one of doom metal’s finest children, and truly is worthy of its current essential status. Again, as the debut, look to Peaceville Records for a CD reissue. Damn rare on vinyl it be, and (chuckle) I’m lucky to have one. (No! It’s not for sale, fan boy!)

Pentagram's second album saw a refinement of the doom metal approach the band took on their first album. The trademark 'lackidaisical' vocals of Bobby "Plugie" Liebling are still in place, and sound-wise not a lot has changed, but this album definitely does not sound like just a 'part two' of their debut. Overall the feel of the album is more oppressive and sinister than the debut; the band forays more into the slower tempos and the riffs themselves are a lot more 'doomy' sounding. The high point is definitely the track "Burning Saviour," the nine-minute-plus centerpiece of the album. It starts with dirge-like clean electric arpeggios which explode into a 'heavy' version of the same progression - and even though the song builds and changes, it still manages to re-incorporate different versions of this main riff several times later in the song.

Just like the first album, the 1993 Peaceville issue is a reissue - this album originally came out in 1987 on Napalm/Dutch East India. Definitely a worthy purchase if you're into Sabbath-inspired 'vintage' doom.

(Originally published at LARM (c) 1999)