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Pentagram Post Video for “Curious Volume”

Posted in Bootleg Theater on July 18th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

pentagram

It’s more than a little amazing to think that Pentagram are 45 years into their career. 45 years! Of course, vocalist Bobby Liebling is the sole remaining original member and they’ve had a near-Hawkwindian amount of lineup changes at this point, but still, for even the name to last that long is impressive, let alone the fact that in 2016, they’re probably bigger than they’ve ever been. Recent controversies aside — and whether or not they should be put aside is a matter for internet thinkpieces to sort out — the band’s reach has only expanded over the last several years, and the release of Curious Volume (review here) in 2015 confirmed them as one of the most pivotal American doom acts on the circuit.

That they’ve never had a music video before this new one for the title-track is more trivia than landmark — as I recall it also took Saint Vitus a long time to get their first video out — but certainly noteworthy in any case. “Curious Volume” would seem to live up to the occasion by emphasizing Pentagram as they are today rather than who they were four-plus decades ago. Shot on their Spring European tour, which included a stop at Roadburn 2016, where they slayed, the video finds Pentagram compiles and manipulates performance footage, bringing the vibrancy of their stage show to bear in a well-edited four-minute package delivered in advance of their appearance next month at Psycho Las Vegas.

Check it out below, followed by some comment from Liebling via the PR wire:

Pentagram, “Curious Volume” official video

45 years into its career, Pentagram is ecstatic to announce its first ever promotional video for the title track from the acclaimed album Curious Volume.

The video for “Curious Volume” was produced by David Hall (Uneasysleeper.com), known for his work with The Melvins, Pig Destroyer, Phillip H. Anselmo and the Illegals, Venom, Brutal Truth, Ken Mode and more, with the live footage shot on tour March – April 2016 by Jerry Moore, Chris Navarro, Joe Shuerger and Dan Lively.

Pentagram frontman Bobby Liebling said of the video: “We wanted our first ever video to, in-a-way, be a connection to the past as well as the present. The song can be interpreted as a personal and collective journey that we’ve been on for close to half a decade. It’s a trip that’s both physical and mental and I feel that Dave’s end result illustrates that for us and everyone. The video stands as both an escape and an introduction to us as artists and people. You can feel the rigors and rewards of tour life through the visuals. We love the stardust and psychedelics as well as the raw rock-n-roll energy felt throughout the song and video alike. We hope you connect with it like we do.”

Pentagram is:
Bobby Liebling – vocals
Victor Griffin – guitar
Greg Turley – bass
Pete Campbell – drums

Pentagram website

Pentagram on Thee Facebooks

Pentagram at Peaceville Records

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Pentagram, Curious Volume: Next Days Here

Posted in Reviews on August 27th, 2015 by JJ Koczan

pentagram curious volume

The odds have been overcome, the story has been told, and really all that’s left for Pentagram at this point is to keep the momentum going. Their return to Peaceville Records comes with Curious Volume, their second full-length after 2011’s Last Rites (review here) reunited one of the most pivotal pairings in American doom: vocalist Bobby Liebling and guitarist Victor Griffin, and one could easily argue that it finds PentagramLiebling, Griffin, bassist Greg Turley and drummer “Minnesota” Pete Campbell as the latest addition in place of Sean Saley, now in The Skull — with the highest public profile they’ve ever had. 40 tumultuous (to put it mildly) years later, Bobby Liebling is legitimately a rock star, headlining at festivals like Psycho California and touring to packed houses on both coasts and in between.

It’s worth noting that part of that notoriety is owed to the 2012 documentary, Last Days Here (review here), but the band having a back catalog of largely-underrated doom classics has helped them influence an entirely new generation of listeners and artists. It boasts few surprises, but the 43-minute/11-track Curious Volume works well within Pentagram‘s strengths and proves a solid outing that will keep them on the road as they continue to expand their fanbase. One wouldn’t go into it expecting or even wanting much by way of experimentalism, and accordingly, Pentagram deliver on the promise of blending classic doom and Liebling‘s charismatic persona — see “Misunderstood” — and do justice to the band’s decades-spanning underground legacy. Recorded by Mattias Nilsson with additional vocal tracking by Travis Wyrick, it draws together with professional clarity and poise the best of Pentagram as they are today.

In doing so, it bears a significant stamp of Victor Griffin‘s songwriting. Guessing when Pentagram material was written is a trap — they had more than a decade of material before their first album came out — but songs like, “Lay Down and Die,” “The Tempter Push,” “Dead Bury Dead,” “Curious Volume,” “Close the Casket,” “The Devil’s Playground” and the closing “Because I Made It” carry a distinct feel that one can trace back through Griffin‘s work in In~Graved and Place of Skulls to Death Row, so whether the parts are new or old, they’re his. Near as I can tell, the only cut on Curious Volume that previously appeared on a Pentagram release is “Earth Flight,” which showed up on 2003’s A Keg Full of Dynamite live outing (good luck finding it), recorded in 1978, but that’s hardly the only inclusion on Curious Volume with a classic feel.

pentagram (Photo by Stacy Lynne)

Following the opening rush of “Lay Down and Die” — which seems to directly acknowledge the notion of a live audience in its lyrics — second cut “The Tempter Push” nods directly at Deep Purple‘s “Strange Kind of Woman.” Its tense intro marked by Campbell‘s steady kick, “Earth Flight” has a classic-style shuffle, and the doomly “Sufferin'” and speedy good-timer “Misunderstood” follow suit. They could be brand new and “Dead Bury Dead” could’ve been written by Liebling or original drummer Geof O’Keefe for Stone Bunny circa 1970, but in terms of feel there’s a fair amount of variety between tracks in their approach — on “Walk Alone,” more rocking, on the title-cut, more morose, and so on — but Griffin‘s best-in-class tone and Liebling‘s vocals both tie the songs together, so that the entirety of Curious Volume remains cohesive across its span, speaking the crowd on “Lay Down and Die,” “Curious Volume” and “Because I Made It” — the opener, centerpiece and closer — but keeping listeners engaged throughout with its quality of craftsmanship and performance.

More perhaps than any other song on Curious Volume, the closer sums up the band’s position. “Because I Made It” finds Liebling and Griffin both on the other side of addiction struggles, each party very much in need of the other, and while I won’t downplay the role Turley‘s low-end plays in setting the heavy vibe of “The Devi’s Playground” or “Dead Bury Dead,” or the job Campbell does in stepping into the drummer role right before entering the studio, no question the focuses for most listening are the vocals and guitar. As much as anyone can in doom, they have made it. With Last Rites, the question going into it was whether or not Pentagram would be able to carry a full-length record across after seven years and a yet-again revamped lineup.

On that level, Curious Volume is an even more difficult record to make, because unlike its predecessor, the simple fact that it’s coming out doesn’t automatically stand it up as a triumph. It’s fortunate, then, that Pentagram have been able to sustain the momentum from their live shows and bring that energy and presence to the recording. The reflecting point of view of “Because I Made It” — in some ways, it and a couple of the other songs here seem to be retelling “Amazing Grace” — feels justified, especially given the context of Last Days Here, and the band make their victory through the classic doom that Pentagram helped to shape. No question that spectacle is a factor post-documentary, but there’s nothing one could reasonably expect of a Pentagram record 30 years after Relentless first surfaced that Curious Volume doesn’t deliver.

Pentagram, “Walk Alone”

Pentagram on Thee Facebooks

Pentagram’s website

Curious Volume at Peaceville Records

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Pentagram’s Curious Volume Release Date Bumped Up; Album out Friday

Posted in Whathaveyou on August 18th, 2015 by JJ Koczan

pentagram

You might recall that when it was first announced, the release date for Pentagram‘s Curious Volume was set at Aug. 28 through Peaceville. Well, that’s a week late. In fact, the legendary doomers’ return to Peaceville Records is out this Friday, Aug. 21. My understanding is it’s not a matter of the album being pushed up, but it works out to be the same anyway — it’ll be out a week sooner than we thought. The timing means that instead of being on the West Coast for a quickie run around their slot at North West Hesh Fest in Portland (info here) when the album is released, it’ll already be out, but I doubt anyone hitting up that fest or any of the other shows will mind a chance to get to know the songs for a few days first.

So, one more time, the takeaway: Curious Volume‘s out Aug. 21, not Aug. 28. Pentagram have a slew of other tour dates recently announced, and you can find them below as hoisted off the PR wire:

pentagram tour dates

PENTAGRAM ANNOUNCES U.S. HEADLINING TOUR

New album ‘Curious Volume’ out August 21 on Peaceville; album trailer posted online

Legendary U.S. heavy/doom metal band, Pentagram, has announced a U.S. headlining tour, set to kick off in Philadelphia, Pa. on September 30. Electric Citizen and Satan’s Satyrs will join Pentagram for the nine city trek.

Frontman Bobby Liebling commented: “Pentagram is extremely excited about our upcoming tours in the U.S. and Europe this fall. We all are itching to perform some of our songs off of our new album ‘Curious Volume’ for you. We feel that they fit well within the other heavy numbers from the bands near 45 year history. Of course, the set is packed with the classics you know and love and ones that you may not even expect. Bring your earplugs; we are going to blow off the roof with our curious volume!”

Pentagram recently reunited with Peaceville Records for its new studio album, Curious Volume, due out August 21.

Featuring 11 classic heavy metal compositions with catchy hooks from core band members Victor Griffin, Greg Turley, and Bobby Liebling (Pete Campbell on the drums completes the band’s line-up), Curious Volume was recorded with Swedish producer Mattias Nilsson at studios located in Maryland and Virginia. Additional recording took place in Tennessee with Grammy-nominated producer Travis Wyrick, who also produced Pentagram’s previous album, Last Rites. The album’s cover artwork was provided courtesy of Richard Schouten.

Pentagram live…
8/27 – Portland, OR @ Dante’s
8/28 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
8/29 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst

Pentagram w/ Electric Citizen, Satan’s Satyrs…
9/30 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
10/01 – Providence, RI @ The Met
10/02 – Amityville, NY @ Revolution
10/03 – Washington, DC @ Rock N Roll Hotel
10/06 – New York, NY @ Saint Vitus
10/07 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr Smalls
10/09 – Chicago, IL @ The Abbey
10/10 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme
10/11 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop

Pentagram is…
Bobby Liebling – vocals
Victor Griffin – guitar
Greg Turley – bass
Pete Campbell – drums

http://www.PentagramOfficial.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pentagramusa

Pentagram, “Walk Alone”

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Pentagram Announce New Album Curious Volume Due in August

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 15th, 2015 by JJ Koczan

pentagram

It would seem to have been a quiet couple of months from the camp of legendary doomers Pentagram, but after announcing their having joined forces with Peaceville Records, the Bobby Liebling-fronted and Victor Griffin-guitared outfit — also Greg Turley on bass and “Minnesota” Pete Campbell on drums — set about putting the finishing touches on their new album, which today is revealed as being titled Curious Volume. It is set to release on Peaceville Aug. 28.

The final art and tracklisting for the album has also been unveiled and tours have been teased, so expect much more to come ahead of the release of the follow-up to Pentagram‘s 2011 studio comeback, Last Rites (review here), but for now, here are Curious Volume preliminaries off the PR wire:

pentagram curious volume

Pentagram to release new album “Curious Volume” this August on Peaceville

Legendary U.S. heavy/doom metal band, Pentagram, reunites with Peaceville Records for its new studio album, Curious Volume, to be released on August 28.

Featuring 11 classic heavy metal compositions with catchy hooks from core band members Victor Griffin, Greg Turley, and Bobby Liebling (Pete Campbell on the drums completes the band’s line-up), the album was recorded with Swedish producer Mattias Nilsson at studios located in Maryland and Virginia. Additional recording took place in Tennessee with Grammy-Award-winning producer Travis Wyrick, who also produced Pentagram’s previous album, Last Rites. The album’s cover artwork was provided courtesy of Richard Schouten.

To support the new album, the band has tours planned in North America and Europe throughout 2015/2016.

1. Lay Down and Die
2. The Tempter Push
3. Dead Bury Dead
4. Earth Flight
5. Walk Alone
6. Curious Volume
7. Misunderstood
8. Close the Casket
9. Sufferin`
10. Devil`s Playground
11. Because I Made It

Formed in the early 1970s with a debut album Relentless releasing in 1985, Pentagram has survived through more than four decades filled with adversity and triumph to become the legendary international act it is today, firmly stamping its name into the heavy metal history books. Although once viewed as a cult act but with a strong and dedicated global fan base, Pentagram has enjoyed a recent surge in popularity due in part to the 2011 documentary, Last Days Here, which follows the trials and tribulations of a troubled rock star, Pentagram’s lead singer Bobby Liebling. With a DVD release set for this fall on Peaceville’s label, the documentary has garnered international recognition on the film festival circuit and has won several awards, including “Best Music Documentary” at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam.

The band recently released its double DVD collection, All Your Sins, featuring over 7 hours of live footage spanning a period of three decades.

Stay tuned for more information on Pentagram and Curious Volume, out this August on Peaceville.

http://www.PentagramOfficial.com
https://www.facebook.com/pentagramusa
http://www.peaceville.com/

Pentagram, Live at Baltimore Soundstage, Oct. 29, 2014

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