Bedemon was the band founded in 1973 by the late guitarist Randy Palmer, who recruited Pentagram members Mike Matthews (bass, lead guitars), Geof O'Keefe (drums, lead guitar), and Bobby Liebling to help flesh out his vision. Taking his influence from acts such as Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Sir Lord Baltimore, and of course his bandmates from Pentagram, Palmer set out to create some seriously heavy hard rock, now known as doom metal, and he was quite successful. Collected here by the folks at Relapse Records are an hours worth of recordings that the band made throughout the '70s. The fact that these archival tracks aren't considered legendary in the eyes of doom fans worldwide is a damn shame, but hopefully with this release that will be rectified shortly.
Forget the subpar audio quality on many of these songs for a second, and simply sit back and soak in the monumental waves of fuzz-toned, crushing guitar riffs, explosive lead solos, pounding drums, and Liebling's maniacal vocal wailings, and you have the makings of a bona-fide doom classic. "Serpent Venom", "Enslaver of Humanity", "Frozen Fear", and the title track all are dark, demented, and massively heavy songs from start to finish, chock full of slow, brontosaurus riffing that will send chills up and down your spine. "Last Call" drips with creepy, intoxicating psychedelia, while the hazy fuzz and effects soaked vocals of "Drive Me to the Grave" will appeal to any fan of vintage Saint Vitus. "Into the Grave" could easily have been an early Pentagram track, and features a great vocal from Bobby, but the band throw a complete curveball on "Skinned", a tune that comes close to the early punk sounds of Iggy Pop & The Stooges. "Through the Gates of Hell" is actually quite eerie, but with more of a bluesy vibe rather than doom. The heavy factor comes booming back on "Touch the Sky", though the feeble production hinders the impact a bit, and "Time Bomb" again reminds of The Stooges, right on down to Liebling's vocals. You'll love the mountainous guitar & bass riffing on the booming "Nighttime Killers", and the band really turn it up for the melodic yet crushingly heavy "Axe to Grind", a sensational instrumental that features layers of harmony & lead guitars, almost like a meeting of Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult.
As I mentioned earlier, the quality of these recordings isn't great, but some are better than others, and as a whole Child of Darkness is still extremely listenable. You just have to go in with the mindset that these are underground archival recordings, and enjoy them for what they are. Fans of vintage doom and psychedelic hard rock will be all over this in a big way.
See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!
Track Listing
- Child Of Darkness
- Enslaver Of Humanity
- Frozen Fear
- One-Way Road
- Serpent Venom
- Last Call
- Drive Me To The Grave
- Into The Grave
- Skinned
- Through The Gates Of Hell
- Touch The Sky
- Child Of Darkness II
- Time Bomb
- Nighttime Killers
- Axe To Grind
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