PENTAGRAM

LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE

ALBUM REVIEW

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After 50 years, it’s great to see PENTAGRAM finally getting the attention they deserve from all across the world wide web.

LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE, the band’s latest offering and their first album in nearly a decade, arrived on the scene mere weeks before a video surfaced that went viral, showing founding member and frontman Bobby Liebling (wide-eyed and seemingly possessed) powering through “The Ghoul” with the rest of the band on stage and instantly becoming a viral sensation across metal circles and the greater metropolitan global meme universe.

LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE truly measures up to the meaning of the phrase, with PENTAGRAM doing the impossible and finally breaking through to a worldwide audience.

With their trademark dark, doomy, and heavy sound finally produced in a way that captures the dark essence of classic doom with the amplified power and brutality of more modern doom metal bands, LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE might just be PENTAGRAM’s finest hour, resulting in one of the greatest (and most fun) doom metal albums in the entire genre.

Release date: January 31, 2025

Label: Heavy Psych Sounds

Be sure to stop by your local “Snooch & Gooch” and pick up some “rental snooch” and remember that there’s a significant difference between “man coon balls” and “Maine Coon paws”. Discover how the transcendental power of hearing Sleep’s “Dopesmoker” at a local tavern can manifest the “best Friday ever”, remember that snails are just slugs with a “tow behind camper shell”, prepare to “pet the horn” and get “a little tingly down in the nether regions” and JOIN US for a modern taste of classic doom from Alexandria, Virginia doom metal innovators PENTAGRAM with LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE.

LIVE AGAIN

Sounds like a powerful knock on a giant door before coming in with a heavy shuffle reminiscent of DOWN heaviness crossed with vintage doom. Very heavy, very cleanly produced, and very loud. A fun 70’s doom kind of vibe.

Also, what are “man coon balls” anyway?

(Apparently, it’s a reference to cats…)

“Oh, you know it baby…”

That outro is weirdly unexpected and out of place yet brutally doomy and heavy.

“I’m walking the tightrope,

I’m never gonna fall,

Like a cat with Maine Coon paws…”

IN THE PANIC ROOM

That opening riff is a cross between Love Her All I Can by KISS and Know Your Enemy by Rage Against The Machine. The 2:00 mark has a cool transition into more psychedelic, atmospheric territory a bit like Kyuss.

There are elements of vintage old school doom as well as more modern doom elements and production touches a ’la DOWN.

I SPOKE TO DEATH

Like a Blue Oyster Cult Godzilla vibe, but WAY heavier.

“He wore a nightmare gown…”

Listening to this is like unlocking a time capsule from the mid 70’s. The drum fills have a vintage Sabbath feel, and that scream at 2:34 (going into the 2nd solo) is the sonic equivalent of 50 years of pain and frustration released all at once in a fit of sublime catharsis.

“I spoke to Death last night,

He wore a nightmare gown,

And when I spoke your name,

He turned his eyes down to the ground…”

DULL PAIN

Some ugly jazzy chords and DOWN vibes in there.

The harmony guitars are way cool. Very old school vibes.

LADY HEROIN

“Down on my knees, calling out your name…”

A steamroller of relentlessly brutal top shelf doom pummeling us into oblivion until the 1:40 mark, where the tone completely shifts after an abrupt transition into something much darker and sedated yet equally soul crushing with somber heaviness.

Perhaps this is when the Lady makes contact with the soul. Use those headphones and listen to the creepy breeze of death gently blowing in the background. The outro at 4:56 leaves a lasting, haunting memory of the lady’s presence.

“Let the games begin,

The room starts to spin,

Like a rolling dance floor…”

I’LL CERTAINLY SEE YOU IN HELL

This has the feeling of Monster Magnet and classic up-tempo psychedelia from the late 60’s, but without that psychedelic organ sound in the background. A bit of a palette cleanser and an intermission of sorts relative to the darker tone of the majority of the album.

The title doesn’t really fit with the energy of the song, but who cares? It’s still cool and it’s fun. And it’s only 2 minutes.

THUNDERCREST

YES! Balls and heaviness.

That riff sounds like all down picking; intense and angry and furiously heavy. Definitely one of the heavier cuts on this album.

SOLVE THE PUZZLE

Cool riff (sounds sort of familiar) and outstanding production, like a jam room with a perfect PA and perfect sound. The riff change before the 2:00 mark and the solo is really modern sounding.

SPREAD YOUR WINGS

Nice and heavy, the perfect blend of modern doom and classic doom. Some dual harmonized Iommi/DOWN vibes in the solo section. Kinda makes you wonder “Who influenced who?”

This sounds like if Lynyrd Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet put out a collaboration but made it doomy and heavy.

LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE

“I’m a Houdini of death…”

There’s really only one volume for this album to be played at, and that volume is LOUD!!!

“I stumbled around for a million years,

Let the truth be told,

I looked into Medusa’s mirror,

But I never turned to stone…”

WALK THE SOCIOPATH

Technically this is the last official song on the album…

The intro on the drums sounds like “Breakout” from Black Sabbath’s “Never Say Die!” (the instrumental…with the saxophone) but WAY heavier!

That riff is sick, warped, twisted, dark, doomy and heavy as fuck. Whoever produced this album deserves free drinks and poon whenever attending a Pentagram show. The heaviness is almost reminiscent of Sleep. The riff at 3:24…Balls of molten doom-laden power.

“Demons come to life on the sociopath…”

The outro solo at 4:20…if that’s NOT Tony Iommi, then it’s pretty damn close to the real thing and an excellent homage to him.

Wait, WAS that Tony Iommi!?

Show Notes:

(00:01): “If you’re gonna add on to your house…”/ “And the benefit of that would be…?”/ “Or maybe a trampoline room…”/ ***WARNING: #listenerdiscretionisadvised *** / “We completely forgot to do the intro last time…”/ ***IF YOU WANNA SKIP THE NONSENSE, GO TO #THEDOCKET*** / ***WELCOME BACK TO THE METAL NERDERY PODCAST AT BUNKERPOON CENTRAL!!!*** / #thisepisodesbeeroftheepisode #OneHellOfAnAle #HappyHopBrewery / 7.0% ABV /

Beer of the Episode

One Hell Of An Ale
Happy Hop Brewery

“That’s kinda daydrinkin’, right?” / “It’s not too carpety either…” / “I can’t eat 3 times a day…that’s a lot…”/ #ketosis / #RussellsReflectionsASMR/ #SundownersSyndrome #Dementia / “If there’s any silver lining whatsoever…when you can have some distance and some prep time…it’s not as shocking…”/ “Weird stuff…that’s NOT them…”

(12:05): “The volume is down…”/ #fixitinpost / #sexualdeviance / “Did I leave that in there?”/ “Y’all know what snails look like, right?” / “Just an isolated picture of a dude’s…horn…”/ “It might have been on #YouTube …”/ “I thought that was my ‘in’…”/ “How about those #Patreons?” / “We dismounted strong…”/ ***IF YOU WANNA JOIN US ON PATREON YOU CAN DO SO AT WWW.PATREON.COM/METALNERDERYPODCAST *** / “Can I request some #reactionvideos to #ElectricCallboy?” / “I’m a little scared…”/ #milking / “I used to watch some deviant, weird shit…I had to stop…”/ “This was live action btw…”/ “Octopus with dick tentacles?”

(19:06): You can follow us on the socials at #YouTube #Facebook and #Instagram at #metalnerderypodcast or you can email us at metalnerdery@gmail.com or you can GIVE US A CALL AND LEAVE US A VOICEMAIL AT 980-666-8182!!! / #GreatScott #VoicemailSegment / “I got a little tingly down in the nether regions…”/ “Was it Julie Newmar?” / #swarthy / “Old school #morn…”/ “Who was the chick from #TheMunsters? The wife?” / #YvonneDeCarlo / “Bush…and curves…you don’t get bush anymore…”/ “We have another one…”/ #gourdhead / #EmberingEffigy (Playing at #SweetwaterBarAndGrill on March 15th) / ROUGAROU /

“Keep your eyeballs pierced…or PEELED!!!” / #southernfriedthrashmetal / “I can sense the stonerdom coming…”/ Description of a Rougarou / “#Bandcamp is kind of a cool site…”

(30:00): “First of all, let us just say…”/ #TheDocket / METAL NERDERY PODCAST PRESENTS: PENTAGRAM – LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE / Congratulations and blessings to #BobbyLiebling and #Pentagram for recently breaking through the memeiverse and gaining worldwide recognition across the interwebs!!! / “There’s a song on this album where the outro solo is Tony Iommi…”/ Alexandria, Virginia / “That’s what I call it, btw…”/ #whatsitcalled / Cool, retro, psychedelic styled #albumcover / “It’s a snooch guard…her tits are out…/ “I like that word, dude…the snooch is right next to the gooch…”/ #SnoochAndGooch / Our favorite tracks upon first listen / “It kinda has time machine vibes…”/ #oldschoolheavymetal / “Before we start, can we look up the phrase #LightningInABottle …?” / “Everybody in the WORLD now knows who Bobby Liebling and Pentagram are thanks to that meme…”

(38:00): “About 1:45…”/ LIVE AGAIN / “Sounds like #DOWN almost…”/ “Like a cat with man coon balls?” / #mainecoonpaws / “WTF are man coon balls?” / “His voice resembles Lee Ving (from FEAR) and the singer from #MollyHatchet …”/ IN THE PANIC ROOM / “I can hear this playing in a juke joint, pool hall…”/ “What do you think the die-hard fans will think?”/ I SPOKE TO DEATH / #thickandfull / #Sleep #Dopesmoker / “It got to like 35 minutes in and somebody finally changed it…”/ #BestFridayEver / “I’ve never experienced it in public…”

(47:42): DULL PAIN / “That takes me back to the 70’s…”/ “This next one might be one of my favorites…”/ LADY HEROIN / #CBLE / “This #cantbeloudenough btw…”/ “That’s right when he shot…”/ #awwwmannn / “I didn’t notice that before…”/ #usethoseheadphones / “Probably the heaviest clean sound ever…”/ “Pink Floyd is doing another showing of #LiveAtPompeii at #IMAX …”/ #ShroomChronicles / “Liquid hot magma…”

(55:23): I’LL CERTAINLY SEE YOU IN HELL / “All that’s missing…is the 60’s psychedelic keyboard…”/ “You’ve seen the video…it was a meme video…they were in a speedboat…”/ #turndownforwhat / #funnysportscommentary / #flopping / THUNDERCREST / “That’s heavy as shit!”/ “The production makes (the songs) really good…”/ The difference between #KISS studio albums vs #ALIVE! / “You’ve gotta solve the puzzle before you can spread the labes, dude…”/ SOLVE THE PUZZLE / “I know it…this album’s got riffs all over the place and some of the riffs are familiar, but I can’t place them…”/ “Everything sounds like everything…there’s only so many riffs, right?” / Riffs that sound like other riffs

(1:03:40): “That’s what labes are, dude…they’ve got wings…”/ SPREAD YOUR WINGS / “Sounds like modern Skynyrd…”/ “I hope I’m that cool at 71…”/ “I like the heavy cleanness…”/ LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE / “There’s only one way to listen to this album…LOUD!” / “Like a doomier version of Motorhead…”/ WALK THE SOCIOPATH / NOTE: The drum intro is Breakout from ‘Never Say Die!’ / “Technically, that’s the last ‘official’ track on the album…”/ “It’s gotta be served LOUD…”/ “Let’s do the #bonustracks why not?” / START THE END / “The lyrical imagery is very cool…kinda like old Ozzy lyrics and old Dio lyrics…”/ “I don’t mean to be a dick…YOU know Gator Country…”/ #DannyJoeBrown was the original vocalist for #MollyHatchet / “That’s right around the corner…”/ MIGHT JUST WANNA BE YOUR FOOL / “It’s like Hendrix Doom, can you imagine #JimiHendrix doing #DoomMetal ???” / “Now I wanna do 70’s shit…70’s volume II?” / #futureepisodeidea / ***THANK YOU FOR JOINING US!!!*** / #untilthenext #outroreel

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