Album Rating: 3.5

It's great to see Bobby back in action and finally getting the recognition he deserves. Hopefully he'll keep this momentum with a few great albums.

Also, his voice sounds like he's 40.

Really good review man!

Album Rating: 3.5

Thanks Raul!



Yeah, you see a man as frail as Liebling and expect that he'll vanish in thin air but it turns out that he can still sing haha. Imagine if he had released the material he had written in the 70s on time. The man could sing like nobody's business back then.

Album Rating: 3.5

Yeah, things would've been a lot different if he could have gotten his shit together back then. Better late than never!

Album Rating: 3.5

Definitely.

Album Rating: 3.5

Thanks for the review manosg! Always great to read others' opinions about music I appreciate. At first I wanted to write a small comment but it ended out as review haha!



I'm a big Pentafan myself and I have been psyched to hear this release. Personally I think that Curious Volume is a much better release than Last Rites. Last Rites is still a great album to me and one I will come back and listen to now and then, but I think the band played it a little too safe on that record. There wasn't any "Wow" moments as on all their earlier albums, like the building up to the guitar solo on Day of Reckoning's 10 minute behemoth "Burning Saviour," or the bizarre and unique atmosphere on the Joe Hasselvander/Bobby Liebling cooperation, which gave birth to the heavy as fuck record "Review Your Choices" and the heavier and more underrated Sub-Basement. Show 'Em How from 2004 also had its excellent moments and has become one of my favorite releases by the band. Bobby Liebling did some of his most emotinal singing on that album and his self-destructive lifestyle had left its scars on his vocals, which will turn some listeners off.

Album Rating: 3.5



Curious Volume could have ended up as a Last Rites part two which I was a little afraid of. Luckily the band seems to have progressed a whole lot since the comeback, and has perfectly mixed their doomier elements off the Death Row era with the heavy groove of the 70s material. Bobby's vocals has not really improved since Last Rites, where he did his most controlled singing since Be Forewarned from 1994. On Curious Volume Bobby seems to have gone back to the more versatile style he used on Review Your Choices and Sub-Basement. On some of the new tracks like Misunderstood and Sufferin' he sings in a kind of proto punk'esque way that sounds quite silly but energetic and especially with Bobby's well recognized voice. Still, he does a very good Iggy Pop imitation on these two numbers. He did that a lot in the seventies like on the track called "Time Bomb" from the Bedemon sessions. One thing that could have benefitted the album is that Bobby's vocals shouldn't have been manipulated. On some of the tracks it's more obvious than others, but I will always prefer the rougher delivery. If one listens to the version of Last Days Here on the Show 'Em How album, it's really obvious that Bobby's vocals were dominated by his crack abuse, and still there wasn't any studio magic manipulating his voice. That sounded real to me! Luckily Bobby's passion shines through the vocal effects on Curious Volume, so I can live with that.

Bobby's delivery is always one of the experiences when listening to a Pentagram record, but what really shines too on Curious Volume is the musicianship. The playing between Greg Turley and Victor Griffin feels a lot more dynamic this time in great company of new drummer Pete Campbell. Especially Victor Griffin steals the show with his great riffing and some of his finest solos in the Pentagram discog. His solos on Devil's Playground, Lay Down and Die, Because I Made It and especially the awesome new number Close the Casket, shows how underrated a guitarist he is.

Album Rating: 3.5





Right now I'm pretty sure that this album will grow a lot more on me, but I can't say now if I would pick this instead of Review Your Choices on a desert island. One thing that's for sure is that I consider it a big improvement over the harmless but great Last Rites album. Sadly this could be the last Pentagram album to be released considering Bobby's decreasing health, but still it's a worthy ending of one of doom's most legendary acts.



Sorry if my grammar sucks! Haha

Album Rating: 3.5

Wow, great comment Ben! I have to say I agree with most of what you've written. Actually, I wanted to write something about Bobby's vocals being manipulated but I forgot to add it to my last draft. Regarding my favorite Pentagram, I'd have to go with First Daze Here. Even though it's considered a compilation, the band is on its absolute peak imo and Bobby shows why he could have been one of the greatest metal vocalists on that album.

Album Rating: 3.5

I am hooked on the classic Pentagram stuff, apparently I have been missing out , will start to listen to the whole catalog, any rec's for some of there newer better stuff.

Album Rating: 3.5

Too bad the review didn't get featured...the album needs more exposure.

the album's only been out for 5 days, so the review should still be eligible for a feature

Album Rating: 3.5

I hope so. There are many new releases, that's why I have doubts.

Album Rating: 3.5

Usually right on, but the first Doom Metal album was the first Sabbath album, not witchfinder general, Just because they did not have a name for it does not mean it was not doom

Album Rating: 3.5

You can definitely make the case for Sabbath releasing the fist heavy metal/doom/stoner/sludge even progressive metal (Sabotage) album.



But as a movement that began in the early '80s, I think Death Penalty is the first doom metal album. But you certainly have a point.

Album Rating: 3.5

That's fine, we can just say Sabbath invented most subgenres of metal, but others have made the first clearly defined album in the given named genre.



Sabotage is the shit by the way, sad to think of the terrible direction they went after that release.

Album Rating: 3.5

Sabotage is incredible, top 3 Sabbath for me. Best Ozzy performance overall.

Album Rating: 3.5

Meglomania and The Writ, way ahead of their time, never afraid to do something different and wierd, every album has its own sound.

Album Rating: 4.5

I liked it a lot. 4.2~4.4

Best Ozzy performance overall.[2]

Album Rating: 3.5

just gave this another listen, may give it a bump, love the sound, bobby's voice still stands up