### Pentagram: Last rites

#### 21/09/11 || gk

Pentagram returned this year with “Last Rites” some 7 years after the abortion that was “Show Them How.” The good news is that Bobby Liebling sounds interested again and Victor Griffin is back in the fold. The bad news is that these are songs that Liebling wrote in the 80s and decided to record now and there isn’t a lot of doom on the album.

“Treat Me Right” starts proceedings and it’s a rough and ready hard rock song with a catchy riff and Griffin announces his presence with a very well thought out guitar solo. Not particularly doom but alright as far as openers go. “Call The Man” is again another catchy hard rock song but gets a bit cheesy when Liebling starts on the chorus. The rest of the album is pretty much slow to mid tempo hard rock songs with Griffin’s tasteful lead guitar often being the highlight. “8” is an album highlight even if the intro sounds like classic Metallica being ripped off and works with the rhythm section of Greg Turley on bass and Tim Tomaselli on drums keeping things interesting and this is followed up by “Everything Turning To Night” which is another good song even if it sounds more like something Whitesnake would have done back in the day than classic Pentagram. “Walk In Blue Light” harks back to the old Pentagram sound but just isn’t good enough to really captivate while “Horseman” is another song that’s just boring.

That is the biggest problem with “Last Rites.” Too many of the 12 songs here are just boring with virtually nothing going for them apart from Griffin’s lead guitar playing. In fact I’m giving a whole extra point to this album purely for his solos which are immaculate and for the rock solid rhythm section of Turley and Tomaselli. At the outset, Liebling had the ammunition to make a special album here. Griffin is another scene legend and his Place of Skulls cohorts, Turley and Tomaselli are more than capable of handling their own. Yet, in spite of having the musicians, Leibling’s come up with an album that is pedestrian at best. Better than the Jesus loving turd of an album that was the last Place of Skulls release but that really isn’t saying much.

I expect the doom metal scene is going to salivate over the prospect of seeing Pentagram live with Liebling and Griffin together for the first time after 1994’s “Be Forewarned” but I was expecting a lot from these 2 veterans and all I really got was some tired sounding hard rock. Stick to the classic releases, watch them play live if you get the chance and ignore “Last Rites.”

- Information
- Released: 2011
- Label: Metal Blade Records
- Website: Pentagram MySpace
- Band
- Bobby Liebling: vocals
- Victor Griffin: guitars
- Greg Turley: bass
- Tim Tomaselli: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Treat Me Right
- 02. Call the Man
- 03. Into the Ground
- 04. 8
- 05. Everything’s Turning to Night
- 06. Windmills and Chimes
- 07. American Dream
- 08. Walk in the Blue Light
- 09. Horseman
- 10. Death in 1st Person
- 11. Nothing Left
- 12. All Your Sins – Reprise