In the Shadow of Sabbath Pt.2
Probably the most influential band to have emerged out of the shadow of Black Sabbath and certainly the most relevant were Virginian based band
Pentagram whose brand of bluesy proto-doom metal sealed them as eternal carriers of the flame, their early demos ranged right back to the early 1970s (they didn’t get an actual album release until 1987) this was largely due to frontman Bobby Liebling clashing with potential producers and record labels, but despite never having a record deal they had certainly impressed bands like the Blue Oyster Cult and built up a huge local following. This initial
Pentagram line-up is actually considered their very best by long term fans of the band and it consisted of: Bobby Liebling-Vocals, Vincent McAllister-Guitar, Greg Mayne-Bass and Geoff O’Keefe-Drums, they also had the services of a rhythm guitarist in Randy Palmer for a while as well. These early demos of the band later featured on two compilation albums
1972-1979 and
1972-1979 (Vol.2) and some of these demos would later end up on their future studio albums and some of the best demos are featured below. On the subject of doom metal, British based band
Necromandus an odd cross between Black Sabbath and Yes, were from Cumbria with a line-up consisting of Billy Branch-Vocals, Barry Dunnery-Guitar, Dennis McCarten-Bass and Frank Hall-Drums, and with the help of Tony Iommi as their producer, saw the band record their first album
Orexis of Death in 1973, but this album was later shelved and didn’t get its official release until the 1990s, also an alternative version of that album was also released as well. Like
Pentagram,
Necromandus greatly suffered by not having a record deal in the early part of their career and in their case the label of ‘The second Black Sabbath’ didn’t do them any favours either. A couple of the videos have been posted below along with the
Pentagram ones.