Customer Reviews

Child of Darkness [Vinyl]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

DOOM HISTORY HERE FOLKS! And not just that, it's a fantastic album.

So what's all the fuss about Bedemon? Well some of you may be familiar with the band Pentagram from Maryland, who have about a 30+ year history, going on 40 in fact. Well Bedemon are essentially an obscure but very worthwhile footnote to Pentagram's history, being the "solo" recording project of original '70s Pentagram guitarist Randy Palmer, the majority of this recorded circa 1973-74 with a few tracks from a 1979 Bedemon session as well. They never played out, or even released any records. Bedemon were more of a practice room, basement-recording project that involved Palmer and friends, including the other members of Pentagram, most significantly the uniquely talented vocalist Bobby Liebling who sings on all of these cuts. It was just a way for Palmer to get his own songwriting down on tape, stuff that wasn't recorded by Pentagram. It's totally in the same vein as Pentagram though, if anything MORE dark and doomy than Pentagram's '70s output. Very heavy, and heavily Black Sabbath influenced, also with echoes of Blue Cheer, Randy Holden's Population II, and Iggy & The Stooges (the track "Time Bomb" is very Stoogey, in a way similiar to Pentagram's "Last Days Here"). And for '73, this is definitely about as heavy as it gets, Sabbath and Pentagram themselves excepted. There's so many great tracks on here, each one more sorrowful and wrought with doomful emotion than the next, all of 'em throbbing and (awesomely) distorted. Yes, the quality of these rehearsal tape recordings is downright grungey and murky, but in my opinion that isn't a distraction nor a detraction. In fact, it only makes this better, totally capturing that spirit and raw energy of jamming in the garage for your own enjoyment. And it also sounds doomier that way too.

Hands down, Randy Palmer wrote some of the best Pentagram songs, and many of these are just as good. Some of his riffs absolutely lay to waste those of his contemporaries. Just imagine if Palmer had decided to promote his doom skills rather than keep them for the most part to himself. Holy sh-t. At least we have this, one of the best "lost" albums ever uncovered in the realm of heavy, underground music.

Sadly, Palmer died in a tragic car accident just a few years ago, so the official release of this material at long last is also something of a tribute to his memory. Some of this stuff has been bootlegged before, but this legit release has been done with the blessings of Randy's survivors and the input of the other Bedemon musicans. There's even a Wes Benscoter cover painting based on Palmer's own hand-sketched ideas, as well as lots of photos, a Bedemon history written by Palmer before he was killed, and some very fascinating, detailed, and heartfelt liner notes from fellow Bedemon/Pentagram bandmate Geof O'Keefe.

Essential to all true fans of Pentagram, and also to anyone into heavy '70s Sabbathy psychedelic garagey proto-metal!!

If you are reading this,I'm presuming you know that this was essentially a shoot-off of Pentagram,lead by late musician/author (loved his book on H.G.Lewis)Randy Palmer.This is indeed proto-metal,for its time almost as heavy(and definitely as dark!) as Sabbath.Really,their are a lot of raw riffs here for you disciples of the heavy!

Why only 3 stars? A lot of this is really,really rough sounding - not enough to pass up,but it should be mentioned just the same.One last comment: this is easily heavier than what Pentagram was doing during this time period(if not ever!)

Bedemon's "Child of Darkness" is nihilistic doom at it's finest. It's even darker than Pentagram's "First Daze Here" collection. If you like Pentagram, you will love Bedemon (Bedemon was an offshoot of Pentagram). The darkness of the album is shocking considering it was composed at a time when Nixon was still in the White House and Woodstock was just four years in the past. The quality is a bit rough as the tracks weren't recorded in a studio but the roughness if anything adds to the ambiance of "Child of Darkness," rather than detracts from it. Most of the songs, such as "Child of Darkness," "Enslaver of Humanity," Frozen Fear,"One-Way Road," "Serpent Venom," "Into the Grave," "Nightime Killers," are incredibly loud. Others, like "Skinned" and "Through the Gates of Hell," are quieter but still very dark (both songs have very gloomy and nihilistic lyrics. Thorough liner lyrics provide lyrics and band members' views of each song. There are some Sabbath "yeah" screams too! Buy this album.

Get this now! These recordings prove their were bands as heavy as Sabbath in early 70's and that they could be even darker! The riffs on this album even give the mighty Tony Iommi a run for his money. The only drawback is the sound quality, but for recordings nearing the 40 year mark that were recorded in studio spaces, the sound quality amazingly holds up. If you like Sabbath or Bedemon's sister band Pentagram get this now. A missing link between Sabbath and the Doom Metal sub-genre.

This is a must-buy for anyone who's interested in doom metal and its beginnings. The Sabbath influence is evident, and the Bedemon crew puts out some incredibly sinister riffs. Audiophiles might have a problem with the quality, but I don't think it detracts too much from the CD.

I usually dont write about terrible stuff (waste of time)..but I tell you this is one really hard to sit thru CD..I'm familiar with all kinds of demos and tape products being a musician myself, and I'm a big fan of this genre of music, a big Pentagram,Place Of Skulls, Into the Void,Witchfinder General, etc. All things Sabbath of course, but this is pure crap, that no one in their right mind would put out, we know they are all stoner's but how stoned do you have to be to sit thru this stuff ?? 2 stars for song titles and vague ideas, This really sounds like an old rehearsal cassette tape, that sounds really bad on all 15 songs, thats right they gave you 15 songs and not one has any sound quality, and remember this whining is from a fan !!