[Scott]

70

Artist: Pentagram
Release: Demo 1997
Genre: Doom
Country: USA
Bitrate: FLAC
►Hidden Link
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Demo supposedly recorded in 1997. Lineup is unknown, but most likely Bobby Liebling, Victor Griffin, and Greg Turley. Some versions have 'Nothing Left' in place of 'Pistonhead'. Demo is also known by the title 'Oppression' but that may have been applied by someone outside the band.

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Pentagram/443
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1. Thrill of the Kill
2. Black Sky
3. Pistonhead
4. Look Over Your Shoulder

[easternthunder]

Frequency analysis shows that these tracks are, sadly, lossy-sourced.

[Scott]

Perhaps they are, but this is how I got them.
Could it be perhaps that they were transferred from a cassette, which is somehow showing them as lossy?

But as another example, I have a cassette that I ripped myself. 4 of the 5 tracks show as lossless, and the last as lossy. I checked the frequencies, and the lossy one was below a certain number (I'd have to check to confirm). I wonder if that contributes to them showing as lossy. I even have some CD's with similar cases. Interlude tracks below a certain length showed up as lossy as they were under a certain bitrate.

[Hand of Doom]

They're definitely a higher bitrate than the YouTube rip I have of the Nothing Left version (which also appears to possibly be a separate version/rip, with more time between tracks, higher peak values, and curiously, is also very slightly faster.)
The rolloff at 16kHz is curious, as is the slight decay visible in the spectrogram. Of course it's murky & lo-fi, and cassettes do often lose a bit in the high frequencies as they age, but this appears to be a digital issue. Regardless, it's a definite improvement, and not a major issue.

Something interesting about Pistonhead, it appears to in fact be the same instrumentation as Victor Griffin's Late For An Early Grave compilation. Victor is actually audible in the background, implying that it's a maybe different mix. Course, it could just be equalization. Also all of the tracks except Black Sky seem to use the same drum machine.

Now to find that "Show 'em How" rehearsal demo from 1989, if that even exists....

[Scott]

Hand of Doom, thanks for the analysis and comparison!

I can confirm for you that the "Show 'em How" rehearsal demo does exist. I actually have it.
I actually have two versions. One is the "'Show 'em How' advance tape". The other is the complete rehearsal, most tracks on the rehearsal have more than one take.
The complete rehearsal is of better quality than the advance tape, I think the source tape transferred for the advance tape is of slightly worse quality, or perhaps a higher generation.

Curiously, the 'advance tape' has a Victor Griffin solo demo of 'Live Free and Burn' tacked on the end. But that's the only difference in the actual music.

I can upload either/both of them for you, but I feel that the complete rehearsal represents the better listening experience.

[Scott]

Link updated.

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[Gary Gorham]

Did Pentagram actually ever release demos as such, or were they just tapes that got into circulation...?