2004's
Show 'em How
marked
Pentagram
's return to a full-band arrangement, with founder and vocalist
Bobby Liebling
having apparently fallen out with longtime foil and multi-instrumentalist
Joey Hasselvander
following 2001's terribly disappointing
Sub-Basement
fiasco. And a good thing, too, since the addition of former
Internal Void
members
Kelly Carmichael
(guitar) and
Adam Heinzmann
(bass), as well as veteran
doom
drummer
Mike Smail
(ex-
Cathedral
,
Penance
and
Dream Death
) serves to re-energize
Liebling
, and therefore his legendary underground band's tired sound of late. However, one thing that
does not change -- in fact it exacerbates it -- is
's habit of combining re-recorded material from
's "lost decade" (the 1970s, when they were as prolific as they were poorly documented) with brand new compositions. In fact, the balance of these ten tracks stands at an unprecedentedly lopsided seven to three! But, since those early tunes remain largely unavailable in their original form (some never having exceeded demo-stage to begin with), there's plenty of just cause for resurrecting them here. Especially given the remarkable combination of proto-metallic
psychedelic
acid rock
that drove
(and
Blue Cheer
, and
Sir Lord Baltimore
, and...) at the time when mighty classics like
"Wheel of Fortune,"
"Starlady,"
"Catwalk,"
and the beautifully regretful
"Last Days Here"
were first written. As for the trio of "newbies" (all of which are co-penned by
Carmichael
), their modest attributes can't help but pale in comparison to the glories of old, which may actually explain their short supply. In any event, regardless of this ongoing old vs. new debate, the startling fact is that
mostly lives up to its boastful title: younger generations of
heavy metal
doom metal
fans simply can't get by without their
. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia