"For the majority of Pentagram's career, if you wanted to hear them, you had to know someone who had a bootleg."

April 20, 2011 8:03 AM

Meet Doctor Doom "Forty years ago, with his band Pentagram, Bobby Liebling invented a style of fiendishly heavy metal that hardly anyone heard. He spent the ensuing decades in a haze of hard drugs and big trouble. (5 arrests, 35 detoxes, more than 200 hospital visits.) Now, with the genre he spawned on the rise and a young wife and baby boy in tow, Liebling is feeling the first rumblings of success. Here's where things start to get weird."

Pentagram's Official Site

Wikipedia has a decent profile of the band, which also links to a 2009 interview with Liebling from the L.A. Record.

Music: LastFM. MySpace Archive

YouTube
Official video for "Treat Me Right" was released on April 12, 2011.

Concert Recording: Bobby Liebling with Hank Williams III and band onstage for their covers of the Pentagram songs "Be Forewarned" and "Forever My Queen" (2006)

On some of these videos, album cover art is shown that includes a topless woman, so, nsfw:
* Forever My Queen: 1, 2
* Be Forewarned
* Life Blood
* After the Last
* Out of Luck
* Burning Rays
* Frustration
* The Bees
* Die in Your Sleep
* Man
* Ask No More
Additional videos can be found under nightcomers66's YouTube page. (Do a search in 'uploads' for 'Pentagram')

TubeVision on YouTube has a "BOBBY LIEBLING LIVES" playlist, recorded from 1999-2008, of him playing with various friends and bands.

Also: Pentagram closed the Thrasher Magazine Death Match Show at SXSW 2011 in March. Photo. Show writeup.

posted by zarq (26 comments total)

RICHARDS!!!
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:15 AM on April 20, 2011 [8 favorites]

Here's some video and photos I shot of Pentagram this last Saturday.
The reunion's been going on for a couple of years, but is now with added Victor Griffin!
posted by nowonmai at 8:17 AM on April 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

God dammit, Faint of Butt beat me to it. :(
posted by scaryblackdeath at 8:26 AM on April 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Who subsidized those hospital visits?

Is this another case of our tax dollars being at work?

(Just checking...)
posted by vhsiv at 9:12 AM on April 20, 2011

(Just checking trolling...)

fixed &c.
posted by dersins at 9:15 AM on April 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

God dammit, Faint of Butt beat me to it. :(

Well, it was hardly a stretch.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:16 AM on April 20, 2011 [5 favorites]

please explain this comment everyone is rushing to make
posted by klapaucius at 9:30 AM on April 20, 2011

klapaucius: "please explain this comment everyone is rushing to make"

It's a comic book reference: Doctor Doom's nemesis is Reed "Mister Fantastic" Richards of the Fantastic Four.
posted by zarq at 9:38 AM on April 20, 2011

My biggest problem with metal has always been the vocals. Don't like screechers or cookie monsters. This stuff I can hang with though! Thanks!
posted by ericthegardener at 9:40 AM on April 20, 2011

For non-metalheads, what makes this genre distinctive? What is the name of this genre which is on the rise? It sounds like Black Sabbath with better skills, but I'm afraid I'm too lazy to read through 6 pages of critgasm to get the fundamentals.
posted by anigbrowl at 9:44 AM on April 20, 2011

obligatory
posted by DaddyNewt at 10:01 AM on April 20, 2011

For non-metalheads, what makes this genre distinctive? What is the name of this genre which is on the rise? It sounds like Black Sabbath with better skills, but I'm afraid I'm too lazy to read through 6 pages of critgasm to get the fundamentals.



Doom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres. Both the music and the lyrics intend to evoke a sense of despair, dread, and impending doom. The genre is strongly influenced by the early work of Black Sabbath who formed a prototype for doom metal with songs such as "Black Sabbath" and "Into the Void". During the first half of the 1980s a number of bands from England (Pagan Altar, Witchfinder General), the United States (Pentagram, Saint Vitus, Trouble) and Sweden (Candlemass, Count Raven) defined doom metal as a distinct genre.
posted by black8 at 10:03 AM on April 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh nice. I'd bought the 2001 album mentioned in the profile and I ended up seeing them play almost a decade later. I have no idea how Liebling is supposed to make it big though, as the genre doesn't seem to attract too many people.

The name of the genre is doom metal and it's mostly based on Black Sabbath (s/t, Hand of Doom), though some bands go for "operatic" vocals, others put emphasis on rock and others try to go extra heavy or extra slow. Oh, and if a band is from the UK their chances of being good are greater. At least a couple of musicians have blamed it on the nondescript towns where they grew up.
posted by ersatz at 10:09 AM on April 20, 2011

As I was slower to answer, I think I win this particular thread.

Well, 'win'.
posted by ersatz at 10:10 AM on April 20, 2011

Now, with the genre he spawned on the rise

citation?
posted by ReWayne at 10:16 AM on April 20, 2011

citation: google ngram
posted by klapaucius at 10:22 AM on April 20, 2011

I saw the documentary at SXSW and thought it was fantastic. A beautiful story (as framed) of redemption and the depths of misery a soul can reach. I cried, for sure.

It is obvious a lot of this pain is self-inflicted, and the poor young manager in the film literally goes gray during the course of the documentary, but by itself it was wonderful.

I am not endorsing the amount of pain and needless suffering Bobby has inflicted on his loved ones, fans, and friends, however. It is obvious, even reading up on him lightly, it has been legion.
posted by jscott at 11:01 AM on April 20, 2011

citation: I've been going to doom metal shows for 20 years or so; nowadays there are often other people in attendance too! Filthy hipsters.
posted by nowonmai at 11:04 AM on April 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

Great to see Pentagram up on MeFi. My personal favorite of their tunes is When the Screams Come which was not previously linked.
posted by dagosto at 12:55 PM on April 20, 2011

First Daze Here is one of my favorite dish-washing albums!
posted by swift at 1:13 PM on April 20, 2011

I had to smile at this article, as Pentagram's manager, Sean "Pellet" Pelletier, is one of my oldest friends in the world and my ex-partner as well. And THE nicest, hardest-working, most dedicated dude in the heavy metal/hard rock music industry.

Pentagram is definitely one of my favorite bands, always a staple in my DJ-ing days.

I'm pretty shocked that Bobby is still walking this earth, though. (AND is a new dad...I cannot wrap my mind around that)
posted by medeine at 1:16 PM on April 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Bah.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:07 PM on April 20, 2011

I saw Pentagram last Fall and despite a brief issue with the guitarist's amp, they sounded incredible. Bobby's voice is still really strong. It was as pleasant of a surprise as when I saw Blue Cheer just three or four years ago. In both cases, I was fully expecting a shadow of a formerly great band, but in both cases, these bands blew me away.
posted by NoMich at 2:57 PM on April 20, 2011

Thanks black8. I tried reading the Spin article but I felt like I was missing a lot of context.
posted by anigbrowl at 3:42 PM on April 20, 2011

I remember someone (mathowie?) linking to a great skate video with Pentagram as its soundtrack.
posted by boo_radley at 5:43 PM on April 20, 2011

Whoa what, premature commenting. Anyway,

That video was my first exposure to the band, and I watched it about a dozen or so times just for the soundtrack.
posted by boo_radley at 5:45 PM on April 20, 2011