Band:	Pentagram Chile
Album:	Eternal Life Of Madness
Style:	Death metal, Thrash metal
Release date:	April 26, 2024
A review by:	X-Ray Rod

01. El Imbunche
02. Possessor
03. Omniscient Tyrant
04. The Portal
05. Eternal Life Of Madness
06. Icons Of Decay
07. Devourer Of Life
08. State Of Grace
09. The Seeds Of The Deed
10. Deus Est Machina
11. No One Shall Survive

Pentagram Chile returns a decade after the release of their debut album. Despite the busy schedule of their founder, these South American pioneers stayed focused and released another powerful and rifftastic slab of death/thrash metal.

The two 1987 demos are essential listening when it comes to South American extreme metal, given that they were released just a couple of years after legendary acts like Hellhammer, Death and Possessed were releasing their first material. Focusing on what was going on in South America at the time, Pentagram Chile shares the sound of acts like Sepultura and Sarcófago, but far closer to death/thrash metal than black metal. The tale of Pentagram Chile is one of perseverance. Although they were not signed by any label at the time, which among other reasons resulted in their disbanding, these demos still achieved prominent status in the tape-trading underground. Not for nothing did Napalm Death cover “Demonic Possession” on their release Leaders Not Followers.

After reuniting a few times for live shows, Pentagram Chile released their debut in 2013, The Malefice. By this time, founder Anton Reisenegger had already released 7 full lengths with his thrash metal band Criminal, plus one with the grindcore supergroup Lock Up. It appears that Anton’s other projects take a lot of time from his hands. 11 years needed to pass before Pentagram Chile released their follow-up, Eternal Life Of Madness. In that time, Anton released two more Criminal albums, participated in two Lock Up full-lengths, and joined Brujeria both in studio and for live shows: a busy bee, that’s for sure.

One might think that these long periods of absence would make Pentagram Chile’s music disjointed and uninspired, but nothing could be further from the truth. Time has been kind to this band, which seems to age as well as the wine from their home country.

Like previous works, Pentagram Chile deals with a balanced mix of old-school death and thrash metal, but with added viciousness and blasphemy akin to black metal. It’s a style that perfectly captures the vibe of extreme metal as the style was just in its infancy years. The band has adapted well to current production values, as the excellent sound work that has been put into this record amplifies the massiveness of the gritty riffs. Eternal Life Of Madness relies heavily on mid-tempo music, with fast sections sprinkled every few minutes to add proper oomph to the morbid music. Most of the power infused in these sections is materialised through the great drumming of Juan Pablo Donoso, who has his own story behind the death metal band Sadism. At times, the slow, pummeling passages acquire doomy vibes. Fear not, for despite the slower approach and the length of the album (55 minutes), the interest is kept intact throughout every song thanks to the groove. Damn these riffs are beyond catchy and effective in evoking a dark atmosphere. The evil leads and solos seem both traditional and modern, as they can be wild and fast, but also have a disturbing, otherworldly dissonance like on the track “The Portal”.

To further add to the grim atmosphere we have Anton’s vocals, which haven’t aged a day. As with the other aspects of the band’s music, his style is deeply rooted in a time where extreme metal genres merged with one another, so there aren’t any growls or high-pitched shrieks to hear here. Instead you’ll encounter a raspy, punchy, gravel-choked voice that is both painful and intimidating. The intense screams at the end of the opening track “El Imbuche” and "State Of Grace" are good examples of how blood-curdling and maddening the album can get during its climaxes. At times, the vocals are pretty hardcore punk in a way akin to Dream Death, another cult band that properly mixed extreme metal genres into a cohesive whole.

All in all, Eternal Life Of Madness is an excellent (second comeback?) album by a band that, despite its meagre output across almost 4 decades, still manages to stay relevant in the South American scene.