"London! It's been a long time coming!" shouts Bobby Liebling as he hits the stage to a huge reception. Indeed it has - his entire career in fact. Although the roots of Doom Metal pioneers Pentagram go back as far as the early seventies, none of the band's numerous incarnations, all led by Liebling, have managed to make it over to the UK. Various promoters have attempted to bring Pentagram over here before, and some of them have come very close, only to be thwarted at the last minute. A few doubters thought they wouldn't make it this time either, but sure enough, after all these years, Pentagram finally hit a UK stage for the first time ever tonight and the anticipation is at fever pitch.

First up for me though were Swedish retro rockers Horisont. Now when I met up with the guys from Graveyard earlier this year, I asked them for a few recommendations of some other good Swedish bands to check out. Horisont were the first on that list, so with a recommendation like that I made sure I got into the Garage in time to check them out and, not surprisingly, I wasn't disappointed. Horisont are most definitely cut from the same cloth as Graveyard, hailing from the same town of Gothenburg, and specialising in totally authentic seventies sounding psychedelic bluesy hard rock. Singing in both Swedish and English, this band are one huge rockin' ball of denim, cowboy shirts and moustaches who party like it's 1971. They go down a storm here, and certainly knock me out. They've apparently landed a deal with Rise Above for their second album, so look out for this lot next year - Horisont are once again proof that when it comes to young, authentic 70's inspired hard rock bands, Sweden rules the roost.

When Bobby Liebling walks onto the stage for Pentagram's performance, it's like the coming of the messiah, as the packed crowd chant 'Bobby! Bobby!' He seems genuinely touched by the huge response he gets as the band launch into 'Treat Me Right', the opening cut from this year's new 'Last Rites' album. Standing to his left is none other than Victor Griffin, the guitarist that featured on the first three classic Pentagram albums, and has returned to the band for 'Last Rites', so this is about as close as you can get to a classic Pentagram line-up, and the crowd know it. Perhaps due to Griffin's involvement, the set is almost entirely made up of material from those first three albums in addition to the new material. The only two that didn't originally involve Griffin are 'Forever My Queen' and 'Review Your Choices' which are up next and crank things up a few notches along the way. The new material, although not as strong as the old classics, still sounds damned fine, especially 'Call The Man' and 'Nothing Left'.

As good as the new stuff is, it's the old classics that people are here to see and they get plenty of it to make them smile, all mostly from their superb first album 'Pentagram' (later reissued as 'Relentless'). Doom-tastic delights such as 'Sign Of The Wolf', 'Vampyre Love', 'Death Row' and 'Relentless' completely mesmerise the audience who are really lapping this up, but for me the highlight was a mind-blowing version of 'All Your Sins' which got a heartfelt and passionate sing along from the crowd.

'Dying World' finishes the set in suitably demonic fashion to a frenzied response, so it's no surprise the band are called upon to return to the stage for an encore of a deadly double dose from the 2^nd album 'Day Of Reckoning'. 'Wartime' is one of my Pentagram faves, so this was a delight, and 'When The Screams Come' is a song that has its roots way back in the 70's from the band's very early days, so is a suitable way to sign off.

Despite his advancing years, Bobby Liebling is still an incredibly charismatic and fascinating frontman to watch, and he's lost none of his vocal capabilities. He throws some great shapes, and at points contorts his face so much that it looks like his eyeballs are going to jump out of their sockets, come chasing after you and give you a smack in the mouth! Liebling is clearly blown away by the response he receives from his UK debut tonight, and for the audience, this was a monumental gig to have attended. Bobby states that the band have 'got to find a way' to get back here, and on tonight's evidence, I don't think they'll be short of offers. I would expect a festival appearance next year, Bloodstock would be very suitable, or what about an appearance alongside a band they've been compared to so many times - Black Sabbath? Perhaps Download awaits?

It has indeed been a long time coming, but tonight, finally, Pentagram came, saw, and conquered.