Pentagram (CHL) - Eternal Life of Madness (2024)^{Release ID: 51754}

Pentagram, aka Pentagram Chile, despite being formed almost forty years ago, return in 2024 with only their second full-length album, eleven years after their debut, The Malefice. They did, however, knock out some killer demos back in the 80s and deserve at least a line or two in the book of thrash metal. In fact, truth be told, they deserve more than that because I am sure they have been a big influence on any number of the top-drawer thrashers emerging from Chile over the last few years. New album, Eternal Life of Madness, has eleven tracks and runs for a feverish fifty-five minutes. Pentagram's version of thrash metal sits very comfortably at the deaththrash end of the spectrum and, in truth, is content with medium-paced tempos that sometimes slip into almost doomy territory, with The Seeds of the Deed and Omniscient Tyrant in particular reminding me of Celtic Frost's slower moments. In fact, they do a very good job of varying their pacing, The Portal, for instance, has incendiary moments where they let rip with some real heads down thrashing, but they also throttle it back for a more ominously threatening vibe.

On the whole Eternal Life of Madness is a very solid entry into the modern thrash metal canon with excellent production values and a high level of technical competence, but the truth is that Pentagram, despite being an iconic name in the chilean thrash world, have some stiff competition from some of their younger countrymen such as Demoniac and Critical Defiance and I am not 100 percent convinced they have reached the same level, especially in the songwriting department, as those two with their latest. Don't get the wrong idea, this is still really good, I am merely playing devil's advocate and suggesting that time hasn't necessarily strengthened Pentagram's hand. Omniscient Tyrant, Icons of Decay, the extremely Slayer-ish, Devourer of Life and Deus est machina are all most definitely worth the time of any red-blooded thrasher and outdoes any number of pretenders. Look, if you love South American deaththrash then get your sweaty mitts on a copy of this and I'm sure you won't be too disappointed - I'm not, despite any minor niggles I may have.