Child of Darkness

Audio Mixer: Shawn Hafley.
Audio Remixer: Geof O'Keefe.
Liner Note Authors: Geof O'Keefe; Randy Palmer.
Recording information: Falls Church, VA (03/25/1979); San Miguel, CA (03/25/1979); The Warehouse, Alexandria, VA (03/25/1979); Falls Church, VA (08/15/2001); San Miguel, CA (08/15/2001); The Warehouse, Alexandria, VA (08/15/2001); Falls Church, VA (1973-1974); San Miguel, CA (1973-1974); The Warehouse, Alexandria, VA (1973-1974).
Introduction by: Geof O'Keefe.
Photographers: Geof O'Keefe; Cameron Davidson; Chaw Thinn.
With the release of such old-school Pentagram compilations as 2002's First Daze Here and 2006's First Daze Here Too, most fans of the Virginia cult metal band would assume that the vaults have been completely cleared out. But this didn't prove to be the case, as evidenced by Bedemon's Child of Darkness. Led by Pentagram's brief second guitarist, Randy Palmer, Bedemon also featured Pentagram co-founders Bobby Liebling and Geof O'Keefe. As a result, both bands possessed a very similar Sabbath-y sound, although Bedemon seemed to focus more on the Satanic side of things -- even more so than Pentagram. The sound quality of this 15-track release may not be exactly sonically sterling, but for longtime Pentagram fanatics, it will be quite a find, as the material is on par with both the aforementioned Pentagram compilations. Just by glancing at the song titles alone ("Enslaver of Humanity," "Serpent Venom," "Into the Grave," "Through the Gates of Hell") you see that Palmer and company were following the same lyrical path as acts like Venom and Slayer; only thing is that Bedemon pre-dated both acts by ten years. Also included is a hefty booklet, jam-packed with pictures, informative notes, recollections (Palmer passed away in 2002), and song lyrics. ~ Greg Prato