Pentagram
Sub-Basement

There are bands that have always been against the policies of record labels, bands that have always played the music they had in their hearts, even at the cost of being marginalized, set aside in favor of the various "revelations" of the moment.

Pentagram is one of these increasingly rare bands; in 36 years of career (they formed in the now very distant 1971), they have always played the music they knew how to do best: Heavy/Doom. They played Doom when prog was rampant, continued in the '80s during the full synth-pop era, and even in the '90s when all attention was directed towards the new phenomenon called grunge.

Bobby Liebling (founder, singer, and leader) never rushed (suffice it to say that Pentagram's debut is dated 1985, after 14 years of fiery singles and concerts around the States), and he has always been judicious with releases, so much so that this "Sub-Basement" (of 2001) is only the fifth studio album. Listening to it is like going back thirty years, to when Black Sabbath revolutionized the way of thinking and composing heavy music.

The granite riffs carved in stone of tracks like "Bloodlust" or "Go In Circles (Reachin' For An End)" are spat out by a group that still has so much to say, even now, in the musical field; the nasty rock'n'roll of "Mad Dog" and the speed-doom of "Drive Me To The Grave" are all splendid examples of how to play "dated" music today. And then how can we not mention "Sub-Basement", certainly one of the most beautiful doom songs ever written, which alone is worth the price of the album.

Probably Pentagram will never make the "big leap", will never become famous, but we lovers of these sounds don’t mind; it's enough for us to listen, from time to time, to a wonderful little record played by a group that lived the golden years of rock firsthand.