Far from being a proper album by a solid band, “Child of Darkness” captures a series of rehearsal sessions from the early to late‘70s that centred on Randy Palmer and his friends whom he had asked to lend a hand in order to put his songs to cassette. There they remained, behind closed doors, for many years. However, the songs were eventually leaked and bootlegged furiously yet the demand remained and continued to grow. In this environment, the men behind Bedemon agreed to do right by the fans and give them, once and for all, the best possible quality recording of those songs from three decades earlier. The project was originally intended to be a celebration although was soon to become a memorial when its leading light was suddenly killed in a car accident. Nonetheless, his friends toiled on and the end result, which you should be holding in your hands, is a fitting testimony to his creativity. Granted, the sound quality remains imperfect. But it is acceptable and this is as good as it comes. Furthermore, the recording has been adorned with a painting that holds true to an old Palmer sketch, which can also be found on the reverse. The inner sleeve contains all of the lyrics and liner notes, from a number of sources, tracking the birth, life and death of Bedemon with much love and painstaking attention to detail. That is the background. But more importantly, what of the music? In spite of varying muddy patches, the sparks of genius shine through from the very first session, whether it be the chilling “Serpent Venom” that works wonders with Bobby Liebing’s long drawn vocals and the passionate solo towards its close, or later on, “Into the Grave” when Liebing sounds much clearer and the solos are that much more poignant. That same later session also gave birth to the upfront ride “Through the Gates of Hell” with another inspired Palmer solo as well as the short and haunting “Last Call”, which was brought to the table by Mike Matthews. It stands out for its heavy guitar vibe and alternating solos between Matthews, Palmer and Matthews again. “Frozen Fear” penned by Geof O’Keefe, will surely raise eyebrows due to the unmistakable haunting homage to Black Sabbath as well as another formidable Palmer O’Keefe solo partnership. By later ‘73, Palmer’s craft was in full flight, as the “Skinned” and “Touch the Sky” duo testifies, capturing the wilder and brooding epic dimensions respectively. Several years later, they did it again although by which time Palmer had comfortably settled into rhythm guitars, which paved the way for Matthews and O’Keefe to work their wonders on the magnificent “Time Bomb” loaded with groove and searing leads, “Nighttime Killers” and the melodic instrumental, “Axe To Grind” as it later came to be known. The bottom line is that it would be a crying shame if any of the minor glitches inherent to the original recordings denied Bedemon a fair hearing because these songs still have so much to offer. Thirty years on, that is very rare…

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