“And now you’re back, it’s like you never really went away”, sang The Wildhearts thirty years ago — and there’s an element of that here.
For their first album in a decade, Pentagram return with a cast including Tony Reed of Stone Axe and Mos Generator fame. Even by the revolving-door standards of the band’s lineup history, this feels like a kind of supergroup — and together with Bobby Liebling, they’ve crafted something that’s instantly recognisable as Pentagram.
“Live Again” kicks things off with a chugging groove and dirty lead — it sounds exactly like they should. “I’m walking the tightrope, never gonna fall,” Liebling snarls, and you believe him. Big, thick, greasy grooves are the order of the day. “The Panic Room” could cause an oil slick, frankly.
Reed’s guitar work is sensational throughout. “Spoke To Death” looks forward to the afterlife with incredible energy, while “Dull Pain” is a beauty, boasting a groove you could hang a coat on. “Lady Heroin” feels like a descent into something unpleasant, and the fury is stamped all over “I’ll Certainly See You In Hell” — but it’s always catchy. Both “Thundercrest” and the more mellow “Solve The Puzzle” share that quality.
But Pentagram can unsettle too. There’s always the sense that if you scrape away the layers, something nasty lurks beneath. “Spread Your Wings” has that kind of air — uneasy, ominous.
And make no mistake: this thing is heavy. The title track, “Lightning in a Bottle”, sounds battered and worn down at first, but it explodes into life. It captures something, that’s for damn sure.
Closer “Walk the Sociopath” might be the heaviest of the lot — and it makes for a striking, almost punishing finale.
Pentagram don’t make bad records. But whenever a band makes a return, there’s that nagging fear they might tarnish their legacy. You needn’t have worried.
Because “Lightning in a Bottle” is an absolute cracker.
ONES WE MISSED: PENTAGRAM – LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE (2025)
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