Pentagram

Last Rites (Metal Blade)

If Gene Simmons had abused substances as he did sex and money, he’d be Bobby Liebling, whose 40th anniversary this year as Pentagram anticipates that same Kiss milestone by a couple years. Considering Liebling took 15 of those summers hatching his Virginia doomsayers’ Relentless-ly lo-fi debut bludgeoning, that makes it almost a quarter-century in picking up where 1987 sophomore slump of sorts Day of Reckoning left off. Joining a Relentless first half to Reckoning‘s arid backside, Last Rites reunites Liebling with his Keith Richards, Victor Griffin, whose “Horseman” riffs remain headless in terrifying efficacy only. The guitarist’s almost STP thrust on “Treat Me Right” meets Liebling’s oracle agelessness in rejoinder “Call the Man,” hooking its rebel chorus to the funnel surf beacon of Griffin’s rampant raunch.

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This article appears in August 26 • 2011.

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San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.