Review by Ben for Gorgoroth - Pentagram (1994)

Thoroughly entertaining black metal album that's just a bit on the short side for true greatness.

Gorgoroth have created a lot of controversy over the years through inappropriate visual imagery and nudity at their concerts, their (now former) vocalist Gaahl being jailed for imprisoning and torturing a man, not to mention that said vocalist happens to be homosexual (not really a common past-time for purveyors of black metal). It's easy to forget that Gorgoroth were once a very different band to all of this, containing an almost entirely different line-up and producing some excellent, evil drenched black metal albums throughout the 90s. Pentagram is their debut release and certainly a favourite for many fans of the band.

Gorgoroth's sound was very much influenced by several other black metal bands. It's easy to hear the influences of Mayhem and Darkthrone, but there are also smatterings of Burzum and even Impaled Nazarene to be found. That last name may sound a little strange when compared to the rest, but there's a slightly punky feeling pervading some of this music and both the riffs and relentless drumming very much remind me of the crazy Finns at times (check out Katharinas Bortgang if you don't believe me) without sinking to the sheer stupidity that Impaled Nazarene seem forever destined for.

But that's not to say that Gorgoroth don't have anything to offer of their own. For starters, vocalist Hat has one of the more bizarre styles in black metal, being extremely high pitched and almost cartoonish. I know a lot of reviewers below have stated that his vocals ruin the album for them, but I think they're rather good and still manage to sound quite powerful despite the initial silliness aspect. The atmosphere of the album is high, and the occasional little touches of bells and other sounds add to it nicely. But most of all, Pentagram is a cult classic album due to Infernus' magnificent riffs. They have the majestic quality of Burzum with the cold, darkness of Mayhem and manage to be extremely memorable at the same time.

All up I think Pentagram is an entertaining album, if not a particularly important one. I'm quite happy to give it four and a half stars as every track is enjoyable, with Crushing the Scepter and Måneskyggens Slave being the pick of the bunch. But I can't justify giving it full marks as it's a bit on the short side at 29 minutes and doesn't really add anything particularly original to the already burgeoning black metal scene of the time.