Pentagram

Pentagram are an American doom metal band from Alexandria, Virginia, active since 1971. They are regarded as one of the earliest doom bands and are closely associated with the development of Sabbath-influenced doom metal and proto-doom. Their sound also draws on heavy metal, psychedelic rock, rock and traditional doom metal.

Early formation and pre-Pentagram projects

The band’s history reaches back to the late 1960s and early 1970s through earlier projects including Shades of Darkness, Wicked Angel, Stone Bunny and Macabre. These projects show that Pentagram’s roots predate their better-known recordings and connect to the broader emergence of heavy underground rock in the United States.

Classic 1970s line-up

The best-known 1970s line-up consists of Bobby Liebling on vocals, Vincent McAllister on guitar, Greg Mayne on bass and Geof O’Keefe on drums, with Randy Palmer and Marty Iverson appearing occasionally as second guitarists. Liebling and O’Keefe handle much of the songwriting. The band’s early output is limited, with only a few 7-inch EPs issued in the 1970s, but these recordings later become highly regarded by fans.

That period also ends amid tensions within the group, including disputes involving Liebling’s drug use and the band’s failure to secure a record deal. Liebling leaves in 1976, though he retains the name and revives it in 1978 with a new line-up for what is later referred to as the High Voltage era, named after the label that releases an EP by that version of the band.

Recordings and line-up changes

In the early 1980s, Liebling and High Voltage-era drummer Joe Hasselvander join Death Row, which soon takes on the Pentagram name. This line-up, with Victor Griffin on guitar and Martin Swaney replacing Lee Abney on bass, records the band’s first LP in 1985. The album is later reissued under the title Relentless. A second LP follows in 1987 with Stuart Rose replacing Hasselvander on drums; Hasselvander later re-records Rose’s parts for a 1990s reissue. The band breaks up after that release.

The Death Row line-up reunites in the 1990s to record a third LP before splitting again. In 1999 Liebling revives the name once more and records two LPs with Hasselvander providing instrumental backing. Another album appears in 2004 with Liebling backed by members of Internal Void. Much of the material on these later records consists of songs Liebling writes in the 1970s but leaves unrecorded at the time.

Later activity

In 2008, Liebling returns with a new line-up featuring Gary Isom on drums, Russ Strahan on guitar and Mark Ammen on bass, and the band begins live work and touring again. Strahan and Ammen later leave, but Pentagram continue and begin preparing material with Victor Griffin and Greg Turley contributing. The band remains active.

Among the members associated with Pentagram across its history are Greg Mayne, Vincent McAllister, Geof O’Keefe, Bobby Liebling, Randy Palmer, Marty Iverson, Joe Hasselvander, Richard Kueht, Martin Swaney, Paul Trowbridge, Victor Griffin, Stuart Rose, Gary Isom, Greg Turley, Ned Meloni, Greg Reeder, Pete Campbell, Scooter Haslip, Tony Reed and Henry Vasquez.

Legacy

Pentagram are strongly linked with Bedemon, and their early material is often described as foundational for later doom metal. The band’s name is also associated with a separate set of pre-Pentagram projects and with a long, fragmented history of line-up changes, revivals and reissues that keep their early recordings in circulation.