Review by Tobias on February 28, 2002.

If ever the godfather of metal, Black Sabbath, had a younger more athletic brother, his name would be Pentagram, riding the same doom tone as their elders like a determined Tommy Chong on a warhorse.

Bucking out tunes to lose your sobriety to since 1972, “The Ram Family” have put together a collection of their early material in a repaired and remastered fashion. Of course, that would sound like a silly statement to many who are not familiar with the thinner recording qualities of low-funded music projects in the seventies… but believe me, from the small budgeted recording material that made up this disc, it’s a great improvement!

From the rolling doom opener Forever My Queen on down the line to the energetic and fascinatingly atmospheric Starlady, Pentagram massages their seething fingers into your back and get you hooked.

Like many aged liquors, Pentagram is an acquired taste. Similarly though, when you get the flavor for it, you return to it often and it will engross you. The spacey but tough rockin’ guitar licks and solos of Vincent McAllister coating the chunky fuzz blocks that the rest of the band pump out with tenacious artistry will leave you wondering how the music could sound so hard and raw yet so edematous.

Call it doom or fuzz or stoner metal, Pentagram is to be respected for what they do. Make no mistake, this is not a Black Sabbath clone; this is original metal born of similar roots with a mind all its own.

Bottom Line: This is about as great as energetic classic doom metal gets.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 6
Originality: 9
Overall: 10

Rating: 8.4 out of 10