Pentagram

From Macabre to Death Row

Pentagram formed in Alexandria, Virginia in 1971, when Bobby Liebling and Geof O'Keefe left Shades of Darkness and Space Meat. Liebling suggested the name and is the only constant member. The band was briefly Macabre in 1972, Virgin Death in 1973 and Wicked Angel in 1974; the first line-up was Liebling, O'Keefe, Vincent McAllister and Steve Martin. A single, "Be Forewarned" with "Lazy Lady", came out as Macabre on Intermedia in 1972. On April 29, 1975 Blue Oyster Cult's producer and manager Sandy Pearlman and Murray Krugman saw them, and a demo session followed in September 1975 at Columbia Studios in New York, but the line-up fell apart that December. A 1979 single, "Livin' in a Ram's Head" with "When the Screams Come", came out on High Voltage with Joe Hasselvander.

In 1980 Lee Abney and Victor Griffin formed Death Row, first in Knoxville and then in Northern Virginia; Hasselvander joined, Liebling was recruited as vocalist and Martin Swaney replaced Abney on bass, and the name reverted to Pentagram. Their debut was issued in 1985 on Pentagram Records, though Decibel says a Dutch label first issued it; the sources disagree. Day of Reckoning followed in 1987 and the band then folded.

Relentless

The debut album was recorded in two sessions, 1981 to 1982 and 1984, and runs 42:50, produced by Liebling, Griffin and Tim Kidwell. The 1982 recordings were first released on the cassette All Your Sins under the name Death Row; in 1984 some vocals and guitars were redone and remixed for the self-titled 1985 album, whose 1984 mix exists only on first-edition vinyl. The 1993 Peaceville reissue, retitled Relentless, restored the 1982 mix and a new track order, and every edition since uses it. The original eleven songs were "Relentless", "Sign of the Wolf (Pentagram)", "All Your Sins", "Run My Course", "Death Row", "Dying World", "The Ghoul", "You're Lost I'm Free", "The Deist", "Sinister" and "20 Buck Spin".

AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia gave it 2.5 stars but called it a raw, untainted slab of pure doom metal and compared Griffin to Tony Iommi; Metal Hammer's Chris Chantler heard it as spookily out-of-time, and Decibel's Hall of Fame essay, number 64, calls it nothing less than a total fucking monster and says the music is faster than Saint Vitus or Trouble. Decibel names Phil Anselmo, Pepper Keenan, Witchcraft and Jack White as engaging with the catalog, and Hank Williams III covered "Be Forewarned" and "Forever My Queen". The band is often listed with Candlemass, Saint Vitus and Trouble as one of the big four of doom, though Liebling prefers heavy hard rock.

Later records include Be Forewarned (1994), Review Your Choices (1999), Last Rites (2011, Metal Blade), Curious Volume (August 21, 2015, Peaceville) and Lightning in a Bottle (January 31, 2025, Heavy Psych Sounds). The documentary Last Days Here, directed by Don Argott and Demian Fenton, premiered at SXSW on March 14, 2011. The line-up announced in June 2024 is Liebling, Tony Reed, Scooter Haslip and Henry Vazquez.