Pentagram was one of the earliest Turkish heavy metal bands, and they are still one of the biggest names in their country’s scene. That is not just a simple case of seniority, however. Pentagram is an exceptional band. From their humble beginnings as a fairly by-the-books thrash metal band, they gradually expanded their sound to become what they are today: a powerful, largely mid-tempo heavy metal band that leaves plenty of room for melodies and rhythms inspired by the traditional music of their home country, consistently in a way that feels so natural that it never becomes a gimmick.

The albums Pentagram releases are generally quite carefully crafted. They were never the type of band to rush their albums onto the market, but once you start listening to them, it becomes clear that every note they play and all arrangements are very intentional. And yet, their albums never feel overlabored to the point where they feel like studio projects with no energy left in them. Even their most elaborately produced material still sounds like a tight band playing together, which makes sense, given that guitarist Hakan Utangaç, bassist Tarkan Gözübüyük, and drummer Cenk Ünnü have been there since the very beginning.

Since 2017, the band has been working with a supersized, eight-member line-up that features all the relevant surviving members of the band. It includes singers Murat İlkan, Gökalp Ergen and Ogün Sanlısoy, who all bring something else to the table. You may come across the band Mezarkabul, which the band adopted for the international market to avoid confusion with the influential American doom metal band Pentagram, but only the international release of ‘Unspoken’ actually carries that name on its cover.

7. Pentagram (1990)

If you know Pentagram from their later elegant, folk-inspired material, the rather primitive thrash metal on their debut album might come as a bit of a surprise. How pleasant of a surprise it is, depends on your preferences. Subtle elements of their later ambitions are there, but most of the album consists of fairly straightforward, German-styled thrash metal. Combine two parts early Destruction with one part Sodom when they were moving from their Venom-inspired early work to actual thrash metal, add some more melodic bass playing – Tarkan Gözübüyük really shines when he gets the chance, most prominently on ‘Mephistopheles’ – and you are quite close to how Pentagram sounds on their self-titled album. As a historical artifact, it’s quite fun, but the band would become much better later on.

Recommended tracks: ‘Powerstage’, ‘Mephistopheles’, ‘Deceptive Bells’

6. Trail Blazer (1992)

The biggest leap in quality in both this list and the band’s career. In only two short years, Pentagram evolved from a fun, yet unremarkable thrash metal band into a more melodic one with clever songwriting twists. The first attempts at giving their riffs and melodies a distinctive Turkish flavor are there, which combined with the more intricate, but still headbangable songwriting makes ‘Trail Blazer‘ sound a bit like something Artillery would do. ‘Livin’ on Lies’ is the most slept-on masterpiece in Pentagram’s discography. Both the creative lead guitar work of newcomer Demir Demirkan and the varied rhythms by Cenk Ünnü keep the album dynamic and unpredictable. Sure, it can be a bit immature at times, and Ogün Sanlısoy’s vocals would evolve considerably in later years, but ‘Trail Blazer’ is downright fantastic for what it is.

Recommended tracks: ‘Livin’ on Lies’, ‘No One Wins the Fight’, ‘Time Bomb’

5. MMXII (2012)

‘MMXII‘ was the first Pentagram album with singer Gökalp Ergen, and its general sound is in part facilitated by his arrival. It was a smart move from the band to get themselves a singer with a completely different timbre than audience favorite Murat İlkan. Or “timbres”, perhaps, because on the one hand, Ergen has a mighty, gruff roar that enables the band to tap into some of their heaviest material yet, while on the other, his passionate cleans work extremely well with the Turkish-language songs. The only reason why I can’t put ‘MMXII’ any higher is the fact that the more melodic songs are so much better than the aggressive stuff – the spine-chilling, emotionally intense ‘Doğmadan Önce’ in particular is one of the best songs Pentagram ever recorded – that the album leaves me wanting more of that.

Recommended tracks: ‘Doğmadan Önce’, ‘It’s Dawn Again’, ‘Geçmişin Yükü’

4. Unspoken (2001)

‘Unspoken‘ more or less streamlines the Pentagram sound introduced on ‘Anatolia’ three years prior down to a crunchy progressive power metal sound with slightly more pronounced folky touches. The results are generally spectacular. Especially the first half of the album is home to some of the best Pentagram songs to date, which are really as perfect as this style of metal gets. The back half of ‘Unspoken’ isn’t quite as memorable, though it flows quite nicely, and Murat İlkan’s amazing vocal performances enhance some of the songs that aren’t quite as remarkable. I probably would have cut one of the lengthy instrumentals to keep ‘Unspoken’ under an hour long, especially since they both also appear on next year’s ‘Bir’, but the album may just be the best representation of Pentagram’s biggest strengths.

Recommended tracks: ‘Lions in a Cage’, ‘In Esîr Like an Eagle’, ‘For the One Unchanging’

3. Bir (2002)

Essentially a companion piece to ‘Unspoken’, ‘Bir‘ was Pentagram’s first – and so far only – album to exclusively feature songs in Turkish. While this has pushed the traditional Turkish melodies to the forefront somewhat, ‘Bir’ can get reasonably heavy at times. ‘Şeytan Bunun Neresinde’ has a vibe reminiscent of the uptempo material on Metallica’s black album, only better, ‘Bu Alemi Gören Sensin’ is a grinding monster of a song, ‘Sır’ a quasi-industrial pounder, and ‘Ölümlü’ a dark, ominous stomper. The more melodic title track that opens the album has become a concert favorite, and it is easy to hear why. It is a driving, uplifting song with simple, yet effective riffs. Nearly half of ‘Bir’ consists of instrumentals, the longest two of which had already appeared on ‘Unspoken’, but that is really the album’s only flaw.

Recommended tracks: ‘Bir’, ‘Şeytan Bunun Neresinde’, ‘Ölümlü’

2. Makina Elektrika (2023)

Pentagram’s most recent original studio album is their first work with their current supersized line-up, and it especially makes fantastic use of all the opportunities offered by having four lead singers with completely different styles in the band. Not just as solo singers either; the harmonies are impeccable. As a result, ‘Makina Elektrika‘ is the most varied album Pentagram ever released, with the possible exception of ‘Anatolia’. I could have done without the cover of one of Metallica’s dullest songs closing the album, but the remaining forty-plus minutes range from great to incredible, the dynamically dramatic ‘Sur’ being a top three Pentagtram song for me without a doubt. ‘Revenant’ and ‘Maymunlar Gezegeni’ also show the band at their most thrashy in decades, though not without a sense of melody.

Recommended tracks: ‘Sur’, ‘Revenant’, ‘Maymunlar Gezegeni’

1. Anatolia (1997)

Murat İlkan’s arrival led Pentagram down more melodic lanes. ‘Anatolia‘ is a highly varied, yet very cohesive masterpiece of an album. It has a few remaining hints of thrash metal, but mostly goes for a mid-paced heavy metal sound with a lot of space for the vocals and the guitars to carry the melodies. ‘Fall of a Hero’, ‘Give Me Something to Kill the Pain’ and ‘Stand to Fall’ lean towards melodic hard rock, ‘Dark Is the Sunlight’ is the band’s first doom metal song, ‘Behind the Veil’ their first spectacular stab at progressive metal, and ‘∞’ a mostly acoustic ballad. Then there are the songs that put the traditional elements from the band’s native front and center, such as the angry ‘1000 in the Eastland’, the cover of Âşık Veysel’s ‘Gündüz Gece’ and the super-creative title track. The latter appears on the album in both Turkish and English, the latter of which is a bit superfluous, but that is truly my only nitpick about this near-perfect album.

Recommended tracks: ‘Behind the Veil’, ‘1000 in the Eastland’, ‘∞’