Pagan Altar

Ya know guys, I figured it was time to introduce you to one of my all time favorite bands: the mighty Pagan Altar, a band that formed in the mid 70s, released a demo tape in 1982 and then vanished from the earth... until they rereleased their demo on CD in 1998. Since then they have recorded two more full length albums, Lords Of Hypocrisy and Mythical & Magical. Their sound can be described as a rather original mix of Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Jethro Tull, combined that typical early 80s British sound. Some songs are more doom, while others lean towards hard rock and folksy stuff. Here is their myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/paganaltar

And a vid a guy from the official fanclub made (which I am of course a member of ), using one of my favorite songs:



Enjoy!

I've heard so much about this band, but this is the first time I hear anything from them musically. Can't say this lives up to the hype.

I can see how the epic metal fans drool over this though.

Singer with unique voice that is def an acquired taste - Check
Galloping riffs and rhythms - Check
Under par production, that can be labeled as charming - Check
Ban not always in sync with the singer, or eachother - Check

The more I listen to this, the more it actually appeals to me. Fans of Warlord, Lordian Guard, Tyrant should love this.

kmorg wrote:

I can see how the epic metal fans drool over this though.

Singer with unique voice that is def an acquired taste - Check
Galloping riffs and rhythms - Check
Under par production, that can be labeled as charming - Check
Ban not always in sync with the singer, or eachother - Check

I agree. But I really liked what I heard.

I have Mythical & Magical I love 70's bands as I grew up in the 70's, check out The Lords Of Toth!

Wargod50

singer totally blows it for me, to bad, I liked the music.

The vocals are indeed an tad different. I love 'em. I wouldn't say there's a hype regarding Pagan Altar though. When I first started listening to them when their reunion album came out (in 2004 I believe) nobody knew them, and although they may have garnered some attention, they totally deserve it after 30+ years.

Come on, no other people who dig this?

I like it. I dig the singer, too. His voice has a lot of character and I don't mean that in a backhanded compliment sort of way

It's not without it's charm. Might sound even better if the singer blew his nose before stepping up to the mic.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

It's not without it's charm. Might sound even better if the singer blew his nose before stepping up to the mic.

But then again, the same could've been said for Ozzy.

I recently stumbled upon them and was kinda blown away, that late 70's/early 80's stuff is killer and really detached and in another head space from that whole NWOBHM thing. Witchfinder General are bunch of pansies compared to these guys.

Very atmospheric and cool, actually sounds like those bands that sprung up in the wake of Sabbath in the early 70's like Bedemon, Iron Claw, Wicked Lady etc. Sahb where are you?

It's not bad, I liked it. if they stuck it out in the 80's, they might have been big or even underground legends.

Thease guy's are cool! We played with them in Norway. They hung with us all night...Good bunch of guys...

Yeah, they're great! I'm a member of the Templars fanclub, and I met with up with Terry (the singer), Alan (the guitarist), and Diccon (bassplayer) when they played in Rotterdam in 2007. Really nice guys, had a great time with 'em.

And some useless trivia: Diccon played bass for Dragonforce back in the day. He played on their first CD.

Just when I thought I'd seen it all, I found this:



Assjack is Hank Williams III's punk/metal band, and here they're covering a Pagan Altar song. That's pretty strange, in a way. Although it's cool that Hank III covered it, it doesn't hold a candle to the original.

It makes sense he covered Pagan Altar, he's covered a couple of old 70's Pentagram songs as well. I think maybe Be Forewarned and Forever My Queen.