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Mar 01, 2012 Web Exclusive By Hays Davis

Sean “Pellet” Pelletier giddily describes the sensation of being a huge music fan and hearing the band Pentagram for the first time. “It’s like being a devout Christian and walking down the street one day and bumping into Jesus, and he knows your name and shakes your hand and asks you over for dinner and drinks.”

Last Days Here is an affecting documentary that follows fan-turned-manager Pelletier as he finds Bobby Liebling, lead singer of cult metal legends Pentagram, living in Liebling’s parents’ Maryland basement. With the band’s early shots at major success having been basically self-hobbled, fans have kept Pentagram’s name alive over the years thanks to the eventual release of their early demos and later recordings, and the group’s evolution is described in alternately amusing and painful detail.

The Washington D.C.-area Pentagram formed in the early ‘70s, with a sound described by Blue Oyster Cult producer Murray Krugman as “a street Black Sabbath.” Initially impressed upon hearing them, Krugman brought the band to New York City for a demo session but bowed out when Liebling became aggressively irked over details involving a vocal track. In another instance, members of Kiss were kept waiting to witness a band rehearsal while half of Pentagram hitchhiked there from their janitorial jobs. With Liebling having ownership of the name, Pentagram evolved over the years as whomever the singer had backing him at any given time.

The documentary’s opening shot of Liebling is disturbing. Having been a crack addict for years and now in his 50s, he actually looks older than his parents, but while the singer is feeble from his drug habit and general inactivity, Pelletier is encouraged by Liebling’s remaining spark.

As the film unfolds, Pantera/Down singer Phil Anselmo becomes interested in recording the surviving members of Pentagram but has reservations regarding Liebling’s fragile lifestyle, despite the singer’s shaky intent to become, and remain, clean. A love interest promises to become a rare stabilizing element in Leibling’s life, but when that falters just before Pentagram’s celebrated reunion shows, it’s almost more than the long-suffering Pelletier can take.

Last Days Here is like a Rocky for the underground metal community, where you’ll hope to see Liebling’s fists in the air when the last chords are played. (www.sundanceselects.com)

Author rating: 7/10