When it comes to the formative days of doom, Pentagram is one of the main bands in the US that got the genre started alongside the likes of Trouble and Saint Vitus. With a career that spans over fifty years and plenty of material to show for it, the group certainly has nothing to prove at this point and no matter where you choose to dive in their discography has plenty of killer riffs that blur the lines between doom, heavy metal, and hard rock. There has been a revolving door of musicians from one period of the band to the next, with the constant being the recognizable voice of Bobby Liebling, and that continues to be true for the current incarnation. This time around Liebling has brought Mos Generator’s Scooter Haslip and Tony Reed along for the ride alongside current Saint Vitus drummer Henry Vasquez, and there’s a definite sense of renewed energy and swagger in the resulting material. Lightning In A Bottle seems like an appropriate title in this case, as it tries to capture the psychedelic and hard rock influences from the band’s earliest days alongside the doom elements they helped build. The results are quite strong, and while there are still a few bumps along the way this is a worthy listen whether you’ve followed Pentagram for decades or are curious as to what they’re all about.
Liebling’s backing band has some big shoes to fill, but they make a strong first impression on the opening track “Live Again”. This song has a noticeably punchy feel to it, moving between lumbering doom rhythms and some bluesy riffs that help it to strike that fine balance between the metal and rock side of the spectrum. What works to Pentagram’s advantage this time around is the combination of diverse guitar work and a cohesive feel, as it really feels like each track is going for something a little different but they flow seamlessly rather than seeming like they were thrown together for the sake of making an album. Sometimes this comes in the form of heavy and slow riffs that capture the loud and rawer tone of earlier doom, while other moments take a page out of 60s/70s hard and psychedelic rock and opt for a more melodic and reflective tone. These elements aren’t mutually exclusive either, as the way they fuse together on “Solve The Puzzle” makes for some stand-out moments. For those that haven’t spent much time with Pentagram, Lightning In A Bottle does sometimes come off as more rock forward than some of the heavier doom littered throughout the band’s discography, but the riffs are just as appealing and there’s plenty to dig into here. There are a couple of bumps when it comes to the transitions within songs, as both “Dull Pain” and “Lady Heroin” have a few softer fade-outs where the move back to heavier instrumentation is jarring, but this isn’t an insurmountable obstacle and there’s plenty here to keep listeners coming back.
A lot of metal and rock singers have lost range and some of their vocal control as they’ve gotten up there in years, but Bobby Liebling sounds incredibly sharp throughout Lightning In A Bottle. There’s still a fullness to his voice that fleshes out the band’s sound considerably, and the amount of swagger from one verse to the next drew me in just as much as it did on their past albums. Liebling also packs a similar amount of variety as his backing band, as songs like “I’ll Certainly See You In Hell” scale back some of the gravel and weight of the singing in favor of some softer, airier pitches that recall a lot of 60’s rock. These moments don’t always come together, as there are a few sections in “Lady Heroin” and “Walk The Sociopath” that sound a bit off, but the ones that do outnumber them. Where other bands at this stage have phoned in some of their performances, Pentagram continues to thrive.
Pentagram’s latest effort comes across like a love letter to their earlier rock influences as well as an exploration of the different elements they’ve explored across their discography. It covers more ground than is typical for the doom label, and it’s clear the new lineup has brought some additional stylistic changes and sonic exploration with it. It does have a few bumps in the road in the form of some awkward vocal passages and transitions, but these are in the minority and I’ve had many of these songs on repeat for the past month. It’s safe to say that if the transition towards more rock, blues, and everything in between on the last few albums was to your taste that this one will be as well, and it’s great to hear that even after all this time Pentagram can deliver really strong material. Lightning In A Bottle is available from Heavy Psych Sounds.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg