A decade deeper into their zombified reign Santiago, Chile-based thrashing death metal quartet PENTAGRAM return for a sophomore full-length album and, never a band to be rushed or careless with their in-hindsight popularity, find themselves sticking to the pure late 80’s/ early 90’s ‘old school’ death metal the fans want while still managing tuneful grooves throughout. Eleven years later ‘Eternal Life of Madness‘ once again graces us with a Bosch-esque cover and horrified ambiance as they go on grinding through this abundance of thrashing torment. They’ve fought off as much of the groove heavy torpor of their debut as possible for this second album, a feat which is outsized yet ultimately better attuned to the ecstasies of ancient death metal.

Formed back in 1985 and finished with their legendary course of two demo tapes by 1988 Pentagram was the vision and the persistence of guitarist Juan Pablo Uribe and vocalist/guitarist Anton Reisseneger who is best known for his work in Criminal, a more groove-oriented band that’d formed after a few false starts (Fallout‘s tape, the ‘White Hell‘ demo) lead his work in a different direction. There are two different narratives we could approach those early days with, one typically frames their work as innovators: Their demo-era work is recalled as one of the first notable bands to create death/thrash metal music from the lessons of ‘Hell Awaits‘, ‘Seven Churches‘ and Venom with credit due to contemporaries all over the world. The more common narrative is one of unfortunate circumstances for an underrated band wherein their early work didn’t attract any serious interest from Chilean/South American labels. It is all relative, I’ll offer what is probably the harsher reality as a third option, that those grinding Repulsion and Slaughter level riff-cut songs weren’t ever going to catch on big enough or fast enough per the band’s expectations. Criminal offered a more palatable option for their time and that band soon found their legacy in the late 90’s/early 2000’s. Anyhow, you can read a more in-depth walk through Pentagram‘s first three demos and some associated releases per a 2019 writ series on the evolution of 80’s death metal: Thrash ‘Til Death #39: Pentagram (Chile) 1985-1991

By most accounts the first nostalgic resurrection of Pentagram came by way of Napalm Death and their well-received ‘Leaders Not Followers‘ covers EP wherein a cover of “Demonic Possession” seemed to prompt a much needed demo compilation, a revival of the group and a live album in 2001. Around that same time Criminal‘s popular album ‘Cancer‘ (2000) had been licensed by Metal Blade and most of us in the states know the record from the version which has a cover of “Greed Killing” at the end. Trivia to some but an important set of circumstances which’d lead to Reisseneger joining Lock Up later on, a more official discography set being issued in 2008, and the band reforming on a more permanent note circa 2009. So, what we can gather from this loose history of events is that those first two demos had some serious impact upon death metal, death/thrash metal and musicians who’d either been there when death metal came to life or who’d ever worshipped the old ways. An impressive legacy for ~seven songs these folks had written on a whim as teenagers.

The second resurrection of Pentagram by their own will in 2008 would eventually produce a debut full-length album (‘The Malefice‘, 2013) a mid-paced thrashing death metal album now under the new official name Pentagram Chile and written into knots of occasionally complex, bludgeoning, ‘old school’ styled death metal which was a fair departure from the style found on their 1987 demo but occasionally resembled the tunneling riff tangents of their second demo tape. Otherwise the album received some due criticism for its focus on grooves which appeared to pull more from the muscle memory of associated groups and leaned into its rhythmic interplay quite often. I appreciated that record for its kinda Celtic Frost-esque movements but to be frank I don’t think anyone necessarily wanted six minute atmo-groovin’ songs from a band known for bloody blasphemic death-thrash in a primitive style. Granted, if you wanted that they’d re-recorded all of their old songs on a second disc (or second part of a double LP), making for a double album and basically a complete discography in one. Well, eleven years later, what has changed?

Lost my head again… — Better songs, better production values, and even more speed… alongside an even longer (~55 minutes) second album as these folks manage a proper unflinching follow-up. If you couldn’t hang with ‘The Malefice‘ and you just want three minute, quick and dirty primitive death bangers this ain’t it. ‘Eternal Life of Madness‘ is (again) basically a direct follow-through on the style Pentagram had introduced on their debut LP but with some tweaks made to keep the pacing hot and the riff count about doubled by my count. In this sense they’ve reinforced this sense of an early 90’s death metal album written for two guitars which still has a heavy handed thrash/groove metal inspired approach to riffcraft with the catchier, coldly-cut edge of early extreme metal. In essence this album sounds like a band whose starting point was via inspiration from a band like… eh, well, Pentagram but reaching for the slightly more technical and groove oriented pulse of the next generation beyond that point. The challenge in making this very simple, straightforward point here is that there are eleven fairly similar songs which fire off one after another in a straight line to choose from. Opener “Invunche” thankfully has a bit of everything up front from doom-tinged refrains, some Voivod-esque chords struck in transition, and numerous riff changes to keep the listener grooving along their otherwise barking death-thrashing path. As always the sense of movement provided by scaling riffs in ascending progression give the illusion of speeding motion and this is emphasized by the more sluggish points of refraction, a simple enough mechanic which allows the two guitarists to change the goal-post every ~15 or so seconds to hold the ear of the listener.

The biggest groove, heaviest nod to classic doom metal (or, I guess ‘To Mega Therion‘) and probably the most memorable song on the album “Possessor” follow along this thread without interruption a simple and undeniably ‘old school’ song which basically lives up to expectations of a band like Pentagram in the most clearly stated way possible. It is also the first of a handful of songs which carry a sort of ‘Arise‘-era thrashing groove in the break or bridge in its final third. As we hit the first fourth of the album between three five minute songs, Side A reinforces the late 80’s/early 90’s South American death metal spiritus in the best way possible and presents a sound which is of course aggressive and shouted through an aluminum pipe but also consciously aims for a readable, memorable statement. From that point the general dynamic presented on those first three pieces repeats on Side B (keeping in mind this is an hourlong double LP) as we get a slightly more Slayerized mid-paced groove from “The Portal” as their work continues to lean more in the direction presented by their second demo tape. I’ll be honest I wasn’t sure I was going to be in it for the long-haul with this album when the title track hit, one of the longer pieces which comes with a plain-ass main riff and little energy or menace attached but with some additional time spent with the record and in anticipation of “Icons of Decay” which reaches for the warped riffing found on the title track, almost resembling circa ’92 Disciples of Power in the second half of the song.

If this was a war to be won by attrition Pentagram were already wearing me down before the first half had played out. I’d have been satisfied enough with the first LPs worth of songs being of enough experience, maybe tack on one more song and we’d have been golden, but ‘Eternal Life of Madness‘ still has another set of five songs to rip through and all of them still feel essential to their cause and retain the general conviction and quality displayed thus far. For the second half (Side C and D) much like ‘The Malefice‘ they’ve again leaned into mid-paced songs like “The Seeds of the Dead” and the everything-in-one piece “Deus Est Machina” to complete a thread which might be overlong but rarely disappoints in terms of its moment to moment devices. If you’re looking for variety, they’ve got plenty enough bases covered in that sense and most of that good work has gone into the first several pieces.

Where I’d begin to lose interest was in just how overstated the length of the full listen is. At ~55 minutes too much of a good thing is still too much at the end of the day and I’d rarely sat through the hour without hitting pause beyond the first handful of spins. Over time the lesser songs began to bubble up, not every piece is entirely necessary for the flow of the album to work, yet the rush of a new Pentagram album had me stoked enough to start. That said, ‘Eternal Life of Madness‘ is the a prime follow-up for anyone who’d been a big fan of ‘The Malefice‘. Everything that was good about that record is either replicated (such as the similarly themed album art from Santiago Caruso) or improved upon here in terms of production values, more riffs, and a heavier hit of energy to start. Despite having a few gripes with the overall experience no doubt these folks still put together a death-thrash metal record that has the right idea in terms of creating morbid death metal with a serious attitude. A high recommendation.

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