Bedemon - Child of Darkness
I know this is a demo from some time in the early 70s, though what I have been able to find online conflicts as to the exact year. Either way, to me this is the very best piece of 70s Sabbath worship period. It's just great.
Who is this band? Well, Pentagram, basically, or at least the two bands share membership. Bedemon, at this time, was definitely the heavier and slower of the two. Actually, the band rips. This is a very live recording and they sound great together. Generally very distinct, punchy riffs atop melodic bass playing, all very sabbathian and psych but with an ultimately darker aesthetic and more ferocious attack. This is doom's DNA. I really think the drumming ties it all together, it's pretty complex with lots of psych rock type fills, but right on the money in terms of what a band at this tempo needs to underpin them. And sometimes he just goes ****ING HAM.
I strongly feel that Bobby Liebling, who also appears in Pentagram, was the best Ozzy-worship doom vocalist. With some others others it comes out kind of nasal, and doesn't have Ozzy's gravitas. He really leans into the camp factor of some of these melodies and it comes out sounding great. He sounds distant and mysterious on the recording, which is very much that of a demo, but I never find myself straining to hear what's going on. They sound like a sweaty band playing in a spooky crypt.
The drums sound brittle, and the guitars sound punchy and thick. I really like the vibe and overall aesthetic. I can't help but compare it to an album like Bang's self titled, which is some very fun Sabbath worship, but which lacks the heaviness and murk on display here. This has just the right level of murk.
It's also got consistently good songwriting, with camp lyrics and dreadful melodies. There's a few hippie type political jabs. Definitely sabbath derived, but I would not say derivative. This is simply a good demo, and ahead of its time.
Just an absolute treat.