Is there anything left to be said about Pentagram, the American heavy metal act widely hailed as the godfathers of doom metal? Not so much a band as an institution, Pentagram’s list of personnel is comparable in size to a telephone directory with only wild-eyed vocalist Bobby Liebling remaining a constant over the years. Back with their first album in four years, Pentagram are once again here to show the young pretenders how its done with ‘curious volume’ an eleven track blast of rock ‘n’ roll from the band that refuse to die.
Opening with ‘lay down and die’ the immediate impression is that Pentagram have got a serious Deep Purple (circa ‘in rock’) hard on. As the band lay down a suitably crushing back drop, Bobby fire out syllables like machine gun bullets, sounding as devilishly deranged as ever whilst the band pile up riffs behind him. Getting their groove on, ‘The tempter push’ sees Victor Griffin demonstrating his six-string dexterity over ‘Minnesota’ Pete Campbell’s rock solid percussion. It’s dark, it’s got a taut groove and it’s guaranteed to get heads a-banging across the venue. Having firmly hit their stride, Pentagram kick into ‘Dead bury dead’, a suitably crushing track that wouldn’t sound out of place on the excellent (and tragically only) Heaven and Hell album. New drummer Pete fits in like he’s been there all along, whilst Victor channels the spirit of Iommi as he unleashes riff after riff whilst his climactic solo is particularly impressive. ‘Earth flight’ benefits from a lighter touch and Greg Turley’s fluid bass work leads the way here before the band once more take flight over Pete’s propulsive beats and we’re back into Deep Purple territory. ‘Walk alone’ is similarly possessed of chrome plated riffs and a dark groove, but far better is the title track, a slow-paced, doom-laden trawl that sees the album fork off into darker, more forbidding territory.
With the impressive ‘curious volume’ having drawn the listener into darker territory, the band move onto the scything might of ‘misunderstood’ with its sneering lyric and taut riffing. It’s the sound of Pentagram having fun with classic hard rock and kicking it out with more conviction than almost anyone else currently treading the boards. It’s back to the doom with the sludgy ‘Close the casket’, another album highlight that sees Pentagram unleashing some suitably stately doom riffs before taking things up another notch with the grinding ‘sufferin’’, a slithery doom beast that packs a powerful punch. ‘The devil’s playground’ emerges out of some ear-infringing feedback, proving to be both the album’s heaviest track and its most interesting as Bobby does his best to channel the ghost of Jim Morrison. It’s a potent, lysergic brew and it’s remarkable how vital Pentagram still sound this far into their career. The album closes with ‘because I made it’, a seemingly auto-biographical piece that combines spacey guitar and monumental riffs into one beautifully psychedelic closing number.
‘Curious volume’ is exactly that. Delightfully idiosyncratic, it takes in a variety of influences and styles and spits them out Pentagram style with considerable force and panache. Highlights abound but, for my money, the stunning ‘the devil’s playground’ and the awesome title track stand head and shoulders above the rest. That said, all of the tracks on offer here display that wilful disregard for convention and potent power that has made Pentagram such an important name in metal and ‘curious volume’ does much to help cement that name still further. Above all, ‘curious volume’ demonstrates without a shadow of a doubt that Pentagram are not only exceptionally capable, but also as relevant as ever in an otherwise uncertain musical landscape and I can’t wait to see these songs taken out on the road. As potent as ever, Pentagram have lost none of that unique quality that makes them special and ‘curious volume; is a fine addition to an already deeply impressive back catalogue.
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