Review by Yener on May 9, 2019.

Months ago, I was approached by Intrepid guitarist Simo to check out their first EP, Empress of Devastation - and because I don’t get many, or should I say, any review requests from Estonia, I of course accepted to give this young band a listen. 

It’s an exciting thing, to listen to such a new band that isn’t signed to any labels or doesn’t have any previous LP’s or EP’s. This is their very first effort. Their baby steps.

These aren’t baby steps at all though, as these guys certainly know what they are doing. In fact, these steps are quite hard, and quite solid. As soon as the EP really starts with “Inside the Wall”, you get that sense of old Obituary. Now I don’t know about you guys, but I really miss that vibe - those dirty, sludgy riffs, with those old school vocals. Vocalist Kevin Marks sounds absolutely nothing like John Tardy, but the vibe is there. A lot of it has to do with how the songs carry themselves, but a lot of it also has to do with the drumming - there are no blast beats here. It’s completely old school death metal drumming and wouldn’t sound out of place at all on the earlier Death and Cannibal Corpse albums.

Speaking of old school death metal, I’m happy to report that there is no Morbid Angel worship here - something which I am so sick of I could rant about it for several weeks. No, Intrepid take a more straight forward and brutal attack, but still retain enough finesse so it’s not totally caveman, either. First of all, guitarist Simo does a great job with some no-nonsense guitar work. He is also creative with the note selection and also the arrangement of the songs and their sections. While it sounds primitive compared to say, Cattle Decapitation, well that’s the whole point. Intrepid don’t just blaze through ten sections and call it a song, you can tell they’ve thought about the arrangements for quite a while. Each guitar break, each bass break is carefully crafted, so the end result is that it hits with a lot more impact. It’s like being stomped on slowly, rather than being kicked really fast. 

The vocals as I mentioned above are really well fitting for this sound, I don’t think they could be any better to be honest. The rhythm made up of Kalli Talonpoika on bass and Madis Kaljurand on drums is really solid, as solid as you would expect. I appreciate how the bass can really be heard in the mix, and also that there are no blast beats. The mix I also really appreciate as it literally sounds like it was recorded in the 80’s. However, there’s one sound on here, especially on “Empress of Devastation” during the 4:26 mark, which I have no idea what it belongs to. It’s a weird frequency in the mix which I can’t quite put my finger on. Is that the guitar pick? If so, that’s one fucking loud guitar pick. It literally squeaks through the entire section. But nevertheless, the mixing job on this EP is quite great. Everything can be heard loudly and clearly, which is the most important thing.

Overall this is an EP I really enjoy and displays, at least for me, a lot of good things to come. I hope the guys Intrepid stick to it because this is not the type of death metal typically released anymore. Everyone is so focused on speed and technique that I really do miss bands like Solstice and early Malevolent Creation. For those who like the old school death metal vibe and style, give this a spin, it will absolutely not let you down.

Rating: 8.8 out of 10

Review by Yener on May 9, 2019.

Months ago, I was approached by Intrepid guitarist Simo to check out their first EP, Empress of Devastation - and because I don’t get many, or should I say, any review requests from Estonia, I of course accepted to give this young band a listen. 

It’s an exciting thing, to listen to such a new band that isn’t signed to any labels or doesn’t have any previous LP’s or EP’s. This is their very first effort. Their baby steps.

These aren’t baby steps at all though, as these guys certainly know what they are doing. In fact, these steps are quite hard, and quite solid. As soon as the EP really starts with “Inside the Wall”, you get that sense of old Obituary. Now I don’t know about you guys, but I really miss that vibe - those dirty, sludgy riffs, with those old school vocals. Vocalist Kevin Marks sounds absolutely nothing like John Tardy, but the vibe is there. A lot of it has to do with how the songs carry themselves, but a lot of it also has to do with the drumming - there are no blast beats here. It’s completely old school death metal drumming and wouldn’t sound out of place at all on the earlier Death and Cannibal Corpse albums.

Speaking of old school death metal, I’m happy to report that there is no Morbid Angel worship here - something which I am so sick of I could rant about it for several weeks. No, Intrepid take a more straight forward and brutal attack, but still retain enough finesse so it’s not totally caveman, either. First of all, guitarist Simo does a great job with some no-nonsense guitar work. He is also creative with the note selection and also the arrangement of the songs and their sections. While it sounds primitive compared to say, Cattle Decapitation, well that’s the whole point. Intrepid don’t just blaze through ten sections and call it a song, you can tell they’ve thought about the arrangements for quite a while. Each guitar break, each bass break is carefully crafted, so the end result is that it hits with a lot more impact. It’s like being stomped on slowly, rather than being kicked really fast. 

The vocals as I mentioned above are really well fitting for this sound, I don’t think they could be any better to be honest. The rhythm made up of Kalli Talonpoika on bass and Madis Kaljurand on drums is really solid, as solid as you would expect. I appreciate how the bass can really be heard in the mix, and also that there are no blast beats. The mix I also really appreciate as it literally sounds like it was recorded in the 80’s. However, there’s one sound on here, especially on “Empress of Devastation” during the 4:26 mark, which I have no idea what it belongs to. It’s a weird frequency in the mix which I can’t quite put my finger on. Is that the guitar pick? If so, that’s one fucking loud guitar pick. It literally squeaks through the entire section. But nevertheless, the mixing job on this EP is quite great. Everything can be heard loudly and clearly, which is the most important thing.

Overall this is an EP I really enjoy and displays, at least for me, a lot of good things to come. I hope the guys Intrepid stick to it because this is not the type of death metal typically released anymore. Everyone is so focused on speed and technique that I really do miss bands like Solstice and early Malevolent Creation. For those who like the old school death metal vibe and style, give this a spin, it will absolutely not let you down.

Rating: 8.8 out of 10

Review by Yener on May 9, 2019.

Months ago, I was approached by Intrepid guitarist Simo to check out their first EP, Empress of Devastation - and because I don’t get many, or should I say, any review requests from Estonia, I of course accepted to give this young band a listen. 

It’s an exciting thing, to listen to such a new band that isn’t signed to any labels or doesn’t have any previous LP’s or EP’s. This is their very first effort. Their baby steps.

These aren’t baby steps at all though, as these guys certainly know what they are doing. In fact, these steps are quite hard, and quite solid. As soon as the EP really starts with “Inside the Wall”, you get that sense of old Obituary. Now I don’t know about you guys, but I really miss that vibe - those dirty, sludgy riffs, with those old school vocals. Vocalist Kevin Marks sounds absolutely nothing like John Tardy, but the vibe is there. A lot of it has to do with how the songs carry themselves, but a lot of it also has to do with the drumming - there are no blast beats here. It’s completely old school death metal drumming and wouldn’t sound out of place at all on the earlier Death and Cannibal Corpse albums.

Speaking of old school death metal, I’m happy to report that there is no Morbid Angel worship here - something which I am so sick of I could rant about it for several weeks. No, Intrepid take a more straight forward and brutal attack, but still retain enough finesse so it’s not totally caveman, either. First of all, guitarist Simo does a great job with some no-nonsense guitar work. He is also creative with the note selection and also the arrangement of the songs and their sections. While it sounds primitive compared to say, Cattle Decapitation, well that’s the whole point. Intrepid don’t just blaze through ten sections and call it a song, you can tell they’ve thought about the arrangements for quite a while. Each guitar break, each bass break is carefully crafted, so the end result is that it hits with a lot more impact. It’s like being stomped on slowly, rather than being kicked really fast. 

The vocals as I mentioned above are really well fitting for this sound, I don’t think they could be any better to be honest. The rhythm made up of Kalli Talonpoika on bass and Madis Kaljurand on drums is really solid, as solid as you would expect. I appreciate how the bass can really be heard in the mix, and also that there are no blast beats. The mix I also really appreciate as it literally sounds like it was recorded in the 80’s. However, there’s one sound on here, especially on “Empress of Devastation” during the 4:26 mark, which I have no idea what it belongs to. It’s a weird frequency in the mix which I can’t quite put my finger on. Is that the guitar pick? If so, that’s one fucking loud guitar pick. It literally squeaks through the entire section. But nevertheless, the mixing job on this EP is quite great. Everything can be heard loudly and clearly, which is the most important thing.

Overall this is an EP I really enjoy and displays, at least for me, a lot of good things to come. I hope the guys Intrepid stick to it because this is not the type of death metal typically released anymore. Everyone is so focused on speed and technique that I really do miss bands like Solstice and early Malevolent Creation. For those who like the old school death metal vibe and style, give this a spin, it will absolutely not let you down.

Rating: 8.8 out of 10

Review by Yener on May 9, 2019.

Months ago, I was approached by Intrepid guitarist Simo to check out their first EP, Empress of Devastation - and because I don’t get many, or should I say, any review requests from Estonia, I of course accepted to give this young band a listen. 

It’s an exciting thing, to listen to such a new band that isn’t signed to any labels or doesn’t have any previous LP’s or EP’s. This is their very first effort. Their baby steps.

These aren’t baby steps at all though, as these guys certainly know what they are doing. In fact, these steps are quite hard, and quite solid. As soon as the EP really starts with “Inside the Wall”, you get that sense of old Obituary. Now I don’t know about you guys, but I really miss that vibe - those dirty, sludgy riffs, with those old school vocals. Vocalist Kevin Marks sounds absolutely nothing like John Tardy, but the vibe is there. A lot of it has to do with how the songs carry themselves, but a lot of it also has to do with the drumming - there are no blast beats here. It’s completely old school death metal drumming and wouldn’t sound out of place at all on the earlier Death and Cannibal Corpse albums.

Speaking of old school death metal, I’m happy to report that there is no Morbid Angel worship here - something which I am so sick of I could rant about it for several weeks. No, Intrepid take a more straight forward and brutal attack, but still retain enough finesse so it’s not totally caveman, either. First of all, guitarist Simo does a great job with some no-nonsense guitar work. He is also creative with the note selection and also the arrangement of the songs and their sections. While it sounds primitive compared to say, Cattle Decapitation, well that’s the whole point. Intrepid don’t just blaze through ten sections and call it a song, you can tell they’ve thought about the arrangements for quite a while. Each guitar break, each bass break is carefully crafted, so the end result is that it hits with a lot more impact. It’s like being stomped on slowly, rather than being kicked really fast. 

The vocals as I mentioned above are really well fitting for this sound, I don’t think they could be any better to be honest. The rhythm made up of Kalli Talonpoika on bass and Madis Kaljurand on drums is really solid, as solid as you would expect. I appreciate how the bass can really be heard in the mix, and also that there are no blast beats. The mix I also really appreciate as it literally sounds like it was recorded in the 80’s. However, there’s one sound on here, especially on “Empress of Devastation” during the 4:26 mark, which I have no idea what it belongs to. It’s a weird frequency in the mix which I can’t quite put my finger on. Is that the guitar pick? If so, that’s one fucking loud guitar pick. It literally squeaks through the entire section. But nevertheless, the mixing job on this EP is quite great. Everything can be heard loudly and clearly, which is the most important thing.

Overall this is an EP I really enjoy and displays, at least for me, a lot of good things to come. I hope the guys Intrepid stick to it because this is not the type of death metal typically released anymore. Everyone is so focused on speed and technique that I really do miss bands like Solstice and early Malevolent Creation. For those who like the old school death metal vibe and style, give this a spin, it will absolutely not let you down.

Rating: 8.8 out of 10

Review by Allan on December 3, 2002.

The oldest of the bands under Peaceville Records “Classic Collections”, Pentagram is the band that most deserves to have their thirty-year plus history summed up into one album. “Turn To Stone” combine’s songs that can be found throughout Pentagram’s career on Peaceville Records, with material dating as far back as their debut album “Pentagram” in 1985 until their last Peaceville Records effort, “Be Forewarned” (Pentagram released singles and such in the early ‘70’s, and thus their tri-decade existence). Straightforward, to the point, and simply a combination of various songs on the aforementioned albums, “Turn To Stone” is a good introduction for those that are new to Pentagram.

It looks as if Pentagram is Black Sabbath’s younger brother. Vocalist Bobby Leibling performs with his obviously Ozzy influenced vocals, and guitarist Victor Griffin shares quite a bit in common with the early Sabbath days. Still, it’s safe to say that you shouldn’t completely attribute Pentagram as being a Black Sabbath tribute band in disguise.

Each and every member of Pentagram has a fair amount of talent. The rhythm section is very strong and high in the mix, the lead and rhythm guitar absolutely slay together between their doom theatrics, and the vocals absolutely fit the sound of Pentagram. The songwriting from most of the material found on “Turn To Stone” is very well written and highly enjoyable. While Pentagram isn’t wholly original, it’s hard to turn down a band that can churn out song after song that rocks the way it should.

If you own the three albums Pentagram released ’85 and ’94, there really isn’t any reason for you to pick this up. Otherwise, if you’re going for a best of collection, “First Daze Here” is overall, probably a better pick because it’s more to the point and covers the material better. Nonetheless, “Turn To Stone” is a good barebones representation of the heavier days of Pentagram and it wouldn’t hurt to pick it up.

Bottom Line: Well done, Black Sabbath influenced metal. Nothing more, nothing less, but Pentagram do what they do well enough to garner credit.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 7
Originality: 6
Overall: 7

Rating: 7 out of 10