https://www.high-endrolex.com/18

Pagan Altar Live Shows This Month; New Reissues Due in December

Posted in Whathaveyou on August 14th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

pagan altar records

Pagan Altar coming to the US, even just for five shows, is a big deal. I don’t need to go into the whole blah-blah-doom-legends-plus-they’ve-got-Brendan-from-MagicCircle-singing thing, but I will if you want. Because it’s true. Two shows in Canada, one on the East Coast, one in the Midwest, one on the West Coast — New York, Chicago, L.A. — and that’s it. I’m not trying to tell you how to live your life — yes, I am; pretty much always — but if you ever wanted to see Pagan Altar, this is the time.

Temple of Mystery Records is also continuing its series of reissues of the band’s work, getting their releases back out on tape, CD and LP for those either of a new generation of listeners or who basically just want to allocate more shelf-space to Pagan Altar, which is fair enough. The Time Lord and Mythical and Magical are both due in December, and I’m sure there will be preorders and all that

 

PAGAN ALTAR SHOWS

PAGAN ALTAR’s “Mythical & Magical” and “Time Lord” to be reissued by TEMPLE OF MYSTERY, North American tour coming

Pagan Altar’s Mythical & Magical and The Time Lord are set to be released on December 4th on Temple of Mystery Records. Both albums will be reissued on CD format, deluxe vinyl versions, and audiophile cassettes.

Each CD version include a completely new remaster, complete layout redesign, rare photos, and exclusive liner notes by journalist Sarah Kitteringham.

Each vinyl version include completely new remasters, deluxe gatefold covers, and complete layout redesign. Mythical & Magical includes a beautiful etch on side D, and The Time Lord includes a recently unearthed version of “Night Rider” from the same sessions as the other recordings! Vinyl is available on regular black and limited colors (250 each only copies) available exclusively at the label’s website HERE.

Each cassette versions are pressed on Chromium Dioxide audiophile tapes and include remastered audio.

To celebrate the reissues, Pagan Altar will undertake the following shows around Europe and North America this summer:

***NORTH AMERICAN TOUR***
MONTREAL – Friday, August 23rd
Pagan Altar w/Cauchemar and Palmistry

TORONTO – Saturday, August 24th
Pagan Altar w/Blood Ceremony, Cauchemar, and Smoulder

BROOKLYN – Friday, August 30th
Pagan Altar w/Cauchemar and Spite

CHICAGO – Saturday, August 31st
Pagan Altar w/Cauchemar and High Spirits

LOS ANGELES – Sunday, September 1st
Pagan Altar w/Cauchemar

Tracklisting for Pagan Altar’s Mythical and Magical
1. Samhein
2. The Cry of the Banshee
3. The Crowman
4. Daemoni Na Noiche
5. The Sorcerer
6. Flight of the Witch Queen
7. Dance of the Druids
8. The Erl King
9. The Witches Pathway
10. Sharnie
11. The Rising of the Dark Lord

Featuring songs written mostly between 1976 and 1983, Mythical & Magical is Pagan Altar’s third album and is, without a doubt, the pinnacle of their career. This grandiose, ancient-sounding masterpiece owes most of its atmosphere to Terry Jones’ majestic vocals and Alan Jones’ intricate guitar licks—which gracefully weave a web of medieval-tinged solos throughout the songs. The unique mixture of heavy doom rock and mournful English folk found on Mythical & Magical is absolutely impeccable and will forever be celebrated among the knowing as one of the best albums of the genre. Gatefold LP version includes insert, new layout, etch on vinyl, and remastered songs, and jewelcase CD version includes exclusive liner notes and remastered songs.

Tracklisting for Pagan Altar’s The Time Lord
1. Highway Cavalier
2. The Time Lord
3. Judgement of the Dead
4. The Black Mass
5. Reincarnation
6. Night Rider

Originally recorded back in 1978-79, The Time Lord features Pagan Altar’s earliest recordings. Two of these flawlessly executed tracks are from a 24-track recording session, and the rest of the album are early, atmospheric versions of songs that were later re-recorded on Judgement of the Dead. This LP includes a long-lost, never-before-heard version of “Night Rider,” from the same era as the other songs! This is pure doom metal sorcery. LP version includes insert, new layout, and remastered songs, and jewelcase CD version includes exclusive liner notes and remastered songs.

www.paganaltar.co.uk
www.facebook.com/paganaltarofficial
www.paganaltarofficial.bandcamp.com
www.templeofmystery.ca
www.facebook.com/templeofmysteryrecs

Pagan Altar, Live at Old Grave Fest, Oct. 13, 2018

Tags: , , , , , ,

Pagan Altar to Reissue Judgement of the Dead and Lords of Hypocrisy; Preorders Available

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 11th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

pagan altar

We’re probably decades and a few book projects away from Pagan Altar‘s complete story being told and the band getting their long-overdue due when it comes to blazing the trail for doom in the NWOBHM era. All they can do in the meantime — and hey, if anyone needs a ghost writer, my rates are reasonable — is keep putting the stuff out there, and by “the stuff” I mean their records. Shadow Kingdom stood behind the last batch of Pagan Altar re/issues, and Temple of Mystery steps forward to do likewise even as the band continues to move forward after the 2015 passing of Terry Jones in their new incarnation fronted by Brendan Radigan of Magic Circle. One has to wonder if a new album with the current lineup could be in the offing, but it doesn’t seem like we’re there yet, if we’ll get there at all. You might recall Temple of Mystery released Pagan Altar‘s heretofore swansong, The Room of Shadows (review here), in 2017.

In the meantime, Judgement of the Dead and Lords of Hypocrisy (discussed here) will be out on Temple of Mystery April 17 and Time Lord (review here) and Mythical and Magical will follow later this year.

Preorder links and whatnot below, courtesy of the PR wire:

TEMPLE OF MYSTERY reissuing PAGAN ALTAR’s entire discography – release dates, preorder links, festival shows announced

In 1976, from the mysterious English countryside, emerged Pagan Altar – a band whose arcane doom rumblings have changed the face of the genre. Despite their infamous debut album, Judgement of the Dead, taking decades to be officially released, their short-yet-bright star finally took off in the mid 2000s when the band unleashed The Time Lord, Lords of Hypocrisy, and Mythical and Magical, ending decades of setbacks and unintentional silence. Today, each record in their discography is fanatically hoarded by fans and damn near impossible to find — unless you are willing to depart with a large chunk of your wallet.

Following the untimely passing of iconic frontman Terry Jones in 2015, it took several years for the band’s final album, The Room of Shadows, to be released. Acclaimed internationally as a befitting swan-song, the album was lovingly issued by Canadian label Temple of Mystery Records. The release catapulted the band back into the limelight, encouraging the label to undertake the task of reissuing their highly sought-after back catalog on vinyl, CD, and cassette tape formats. It also brought the band back to the stage in tribute to their fallen frontman, with Magic Circle’s Brendan Radigan taking up the vocal role with aplomb.

First in the series of reissues are Judgment of the Dead and Lords of Hypocrisy, set for international release on April 17th via Temple of Mystery. Judgment of the Dead features remastered audio, with the vinyl edition including an updated 32-page booklet detailing the early history of the band. A limited edition of 250 copies will be pressed on silver vinyl. Meanwhile, the Lords of Hypocrisy reissue features an original painting by fantasy surrealist Adam Burke, who also created the haunting cover to The Room of Shadows. A limited edition of 250 copies will be available on blue vinyl. The CD editions of both albums will feature exclusive liner notes.

To celebrate the legacy reissues, Pagan Altar will undertake select shows around Europe and North America this summer. These performances will include founding member Alan Jones on lead guitar, Diccon Harper on bass, Andres Arango on rhythm guitar, Andy Green on drums, and Brendan Radigan on vocals. Dates for those shows will be announced in April, to coincide with the official release of the first series of reissues. The vinyl, CD, and cassette versions of Time Lord and Mythical and Magical will be released in the fall of 2019.

The first confirmed festival appearances are after the jump. Respective covers, tracklistings, and preorder links for Judgement of the Dead and Lords of Hypocrisy are as follows:

racklisting for Pagan Altar’s Judgement of the Dead
1. Pagan Altar
2. In the Wake of Armadeus
3. Judgement of the Dead
4. The Black Mass
5. Night Rider
6. The Dance of the Banshee
7. Reincarnation

Originally recorded in 1982 during the NWOBHM movement, Pagan Altar’s debut album, Judgement of the Dead, is a timeless classic of macabre heavy/doom metal centered around magic, witchcraft, and the occult. This holy grail album is one of the purest, most magical records that were ever written, and had a tremendous influence on the heavy/doom metal scene. Gatefold LP version includes a 32-page booklet about the early history of the band, new layout, and remastered songs, and jewelcase CD version includes exclusive liner-notes and remastered songs.

Preorder
Limited silver vinyl: https://www.templeofmystery.ca/shop/paganaltar-jotd-vinyl-silver
Regular black vinyl: https://www.templeofmystery.ca/shop/paganaltar-jotd-vinyl
CD: https://www.templeofmystery.ca/shop/paganaltar-jotd-cd
Cassette: https://www.templeofmystery.ca/shop/paganaltar-jotd-mc

racklisting for Pagan Altar’s Lords of Hypocrisy
1. The Lords of Hypocrisy
2. Satan’s Henchmen
3. Sentinels of Hate
4. Armageddon
5. The Interlude
6. The Aftermath
7. The Masquerade
8. The Devil Came Down to Brockley
9. March of the Dead

Featuring songs written between 1976 and 1983, Pagan Altar’s second album, Lords of Hypocrisy, is a timeless classic of macabre heavy/doom metal centered around man’s inhumanity to man and its ultimate demise. The album’s unique atmosphere is shaped by its dark ’70s heavy rock riffs with a generous NWOBHM touch, haunted vocals, and majestic lead guitar parts. A gem of a record whose mysterious songs inspire total and complete devotion. Gatefold DLP version includes new layout with cover art from artist Adam Burke and remastered songs, and jewelcase CD version includes exclusive liner-notes and remastered songs.

Preorder
Limited blue vinyl: https://www.templeofmystery.ca/shop/paganaltar-loh-lp-blue
Regular black vinyl: https://www.templeofmystery.ca/shop/paganaltar-loh-lp
CD: https://www.templeofmystery.ca/shop/paganaltar-loh-cd
Cassette: https://www.templeofmystery.ca/shop/paganaltar-loh-mc

upcoming European shows
Holy Festival, Neudegg Alm/Austria, 20.–22.06.2019
Muskelrock Festival, Tyrolen/Sweden, 30.05.–01.06.2019

www.paganaltar.co.uk
www.facebook.com/paganaltarofficial
www.paganaltarofficial.bandcamp.com
www.templeofmystery.ca
www.facebook.com/templeofmysteryrecs

Pagan Altar, Live at Old Grave Fest, Oct. 13, 2018

Tags: , , , , , ,

Six Dumb Questions with Pagan Altar

Posted in Six Dumb Questions on August 23rd, 2017 by JJ Koczan

pagan altar

The winding tale of UK outfit Pagan Altar would seem to hit its concluding chapter this week with the release of The Room of Shadows (review here) on Temple of Mystery Records. What’s been purported as the NWOBHM doomers’ last full-length, it arrives posthumous to the May 2015 passing of frontman Terry Jones and features his last studio performance. Originally intended for issue as Never Quite Dead, the seven-song collection was completely reworked by guitarist Alan Jones — son of Terry and a co-founder of the band in 1978 — with redone bass tracks from Diccon Harper and drums from Andy Green, given its new name, and in its final form, it follows 11 years behind Mythical and Magical and quickly proves itself worthy of the enduring underground legacy of the band and of serving as the capstone on their career as well as their homage to the elder Jones.

Whether that’s through the chorus of “The Portrait of Dorian Gray,” the eerily folkish atmosphere conjured in the title-track or the metallic breadth explored in “The Ripper,” Pagan Altar can only be said to be rising to the occasion across The Room of Shadows. Their recorded-in-1982/released-in-1998 debut, Volume 1 — subsequently revisited on 2005’s Judgement of the Dead — is a major source of their legend, but it’s hard to imagine The Room of Shadows doing anything other than adding to that, even if the die of their influence is so long since cast. In going back into the studio and assembling the redux of “Danse Macabre” and “Dance of the Vampires” behind Terry‘s vocals, Alan has ensured that Pagan Altar‘s departing statement is a definitive moment, pushing beyond the 2004 sophomore long-player, Lords of Hypocrisy (discussed here), and the EP of earlier recordings, The Time Lord (review here), released that same year on I Hate Records and subsequently reissued along with Mythical and Magical and the rest of their catalog to that point by Shadow Kingdom.

In the interview that follows, Alan Jones talks about what motivated him to revamp Never Quite Dead and turn it into The Room of Shadows, how he feels about putting Pagan Altar to rest, and the possibility that Time Lord, in which he, HarperGreenBrendan Radigan of Magic Circle and Cauchemar guitarist Andres Arango will pay tribute to Terry at the Wings of Metal festival in Montreal on Sept. 9, will continue on as a new project. Spoiler alert: he doesn’t quite say no.

Please enjoy the following Six Dumb Questions:

pagan-altar-the-room-of-shadows

Six Dumb Questions with Alan Jones of Pagan Altar

What was behind the decision to re-record the instruments on The Room of Shadows? What was it about the initial tracks that wasn’t working, and did you know what would make the difference in having them redone? Was there something specific that was missing?

I had a great chemistry with Andy Green and Diccon Harper, with whom we started to write Never Quite Dead, the original name of the album. Unfortunately Andy had to move to Wiltshire – which is about 200 miles away from London (it was too hard to come to practices every week), and Diccon eventually left the band. I really enjoyed playing with these guys, and I felt that they were the best musicians for the job. The album we had finished recording in 2014 just wasn’t good enough, and I didn’t want to go out with an album that I wasn’t happy with. But now, the album reflects much more what we wanted to do – we are very much satisfied with it!

In light of Terry’s passing, how much has The Room of Shadows become a tribute to him, and was that a factor in how the album ultimately came together? How do you feel when you listen to these songs now as a finished product, or do you listen to them at all? What do you think of when you hear his performance on the album?

We originally wrote the album in 2004 when we were recording Mythical and Magical, just to give our minds a rest from the other album. When we were recording Lords of Hypocrisy we were writing Mythical and Magical… But yeah, the album is not a tribute as such as it would have came out anyway if Terry was still there. Terry and I always used to think as one – we always agreed musically and we never argued about music. I just carried on and I knew what we both wanted, so I got the musicians that I thought could do the job. I suppose that’s how it became a tribute to him. I listen to The Room of Shadows quite often, and all the way through, which I never do normally with records. I believe it’s our best album, especially lyrically. You listen to the words on the album and it’s really good! And finally, to answer your question about his performance – I knew he was struggling especially towards the end, but I don’t think that you could actually hear that he was struggling at all… His voice is not as strong but it’s a little bit cleaner. You could really hear what he’s singing!

The last two tracks on The Room of Shadows share their titles with songs by Judas Priest and Black Sabbath. Is that coincidence or a nod to classic heavy metal and maybe Pagan Altar’s place in it? How do you feel about everything Pagan Altar has been able to accomplish since releasing The Time Lord in 2004 and what do you see as the band’s legacy?

Oh, no — it was a complete coincidence! Terry always wanted to do a song about Jack the Ripper. We didn’t even think about that. I feel really honored that Pagan Altar’s music is being listened to all across the world, and within several generations. I think that’s the legacy, really. Hopefully there’s another generation coming through.

Tell me about writing and playing on “The Ripper.” What’s the difference in how a song like that comes together as opposed to, say, “The Portrait of Dorian Gray?”

Well, “Dorian Gray” came about when I bought a new guitar. I was just fiddling about with it and came up with the main riff. With “The Ripper,” Terry and I were in the studio, just the two of us, and it sort of wrote itself! We just started playing around, did a bit and everything followed. It was really strange, never happened to us before… It only took us 10-15 minutes to pretty much finish it. Terry’s first lyric bit was “And the momentary glimpse of a flashing blade is the last thing they will see,” and then wrote the whole song around that.

You, Brendan Radigan from Magic Circle, Diccon, Andy, and Andres Arango will do a set as Time Lord at Wings of Metal in Montreal next month. How did that come together? How did you make the choice to go with Brendan on vocals? If all goes well, could Time Lord be an ongoing project?

A longstanding friend of the band, Annick [Giroux] and her husband François, came over to my sister’s house in London last year and I asked her if she wanted to release our record on her new label. I also dropped in that we would play live if the opportunity came up – and she kind of took it from there. Wings of Metal is her festival, and she pretty much arranged everything for Time Lord. There was a guy (Brendan) that she said was really good and we all listened to him and thought he had a good range and he’d be perfect for the job. And also, Andres plays in Annick’s band and she said he was excellent and that he already knew the songs. By the way, Annick had previously booked Pagan Altar in 2010, and it was the only occasion we ever played “The Crowman” live – and we also did the whole Vol. 1 album! But to answer your last question, I don’t know about what’s going on with Time Lord after the show. After this gig we’ll have a discussion about it.

Any other plans or closing words you want to mention?

I really want to thank Rohan, Ani and Bart because if it wasn’t for them, the album would have never come out. Also, of course, everyone who has bought our albums (or streamed them!) and showed us support. We are really grateful. And I hope you enjoy[ed] the premiere of the song entitled “The Room of Shadows”… This piece is actually inspired by a friend of ours, Albert Bell from Malta. He once told us that there was a room when he was a child that he would never go into… so it is based on a true story:

“The Room of Shadows”
The child’s laughter ceased as he tiptoed by, that dreaded open door
With a cursory glance into its depths, as if to reassure
He never really understood, what first made him hate that room
But childish intuition knew, something lurked within its gloom
He knew the room held many things that came from long ago
But why they were kept within that room, a child of eight wouldn’t know
He sensed a dark force that dwelt within, that watched his every move
Hidden deep within the shadowy bowels, of that accursed room
It took every bit of courage, to retrieve that bouncing ball
That always rolled into that room, when he was playing in the hall
Sheer terror would grip the child’s heart, if he found himself alone
And a glimpse of a fleeting figure, would turn his legs to stone
He would lay a salt trail all around the room, for why he never knew
But a voice from deep within him, told him exactly what to do
Adults seem quite unaware, of the demon that waits inside
And laugh at his reluctance, to cross that threshold line

The adults lost their perception of, the truth only a child can see
The price we pay for material gain, the price for material greed

The years have passed and the memories dim
The child is now full grown
Still living in the family house
With young children of his own
His sights are now firmly set upon
The furthering of his life
Aided and abetted, by a materialistic wife
But his eldest son, has a morbid fear
Of the antiques room off the hall
And he keeps leaving a trail of salt along
The room’s perimeter wall

Pagan Altar, “The Room of Shadows”

Pagan Altar on Thee Facebooks

Pagan Altar on Bandcamp

Pagan Altar website

Temple of Mystery Records website

Temple of Mystery Records on Thee Facebooks

Tags: , , , , ,

Review & Track Premiere: Pagan Altar, The Room of Shadows

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on August 7th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

pagan-altar-the-room-of-shadows

[Click play above to stream the premiere of the title-track from Pagan Altar’s The Room of Shadows, out Aug. 24 via Temple of Mystery Records.]

Thirty-five years after recording their debut album and nearly 20 after Volume I finally saw its release, Pagan Altar put the capstone on their career with The Room of Shadows. What has been floated as the NWOBHM-era cult outfit’s final long-player is their fourth/fifth overall and arrives 11 years after its predecessor, 2006’s Mythical and Magical, via Temple of Mystery Records even more dripping in context and narrative than the simple span of time and retirement of the band. Founding frontman Terry Jones — who along with son/guitarist Alan Jones oversaw the original run of the band from 1978 through 1985 before coming back in 2004 to offer up second album, Lords of Hypocrisy (discussed here), and the EP of earlier recordings, The Time Lord (review here), before moving onto revisit Volume I in 2005’s Judgement of the Dead, and the aforementioned Mythical and Magical — passed away in May 2015 following a fight with cancer.

Pagan Altar had issued splits with Jex Thoth and Mirror of Deception in 2007 and 2011, respectively, as well as a single, Walking in the Dark, in 2013, and 2014 was supposed to see the realization of their next full-length, Never Quite Dead. It was recorded and tabled in light of the illness, and with the elder Jones‘ death, it was unclear whether or not it would ever come out. The Room of Shadows is that album. Alan, along with bassist Diccon Harper and drummer Andy Green, went back into the studio and re-recorded the instruments behind his father’s vocals, and the seven-song/46-minute The Room of Shadows stands not only as a fitting final installment to Pagan Altar‘s career and homage to the unsung legacy of Terry Jones and the band’s contributions to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and traditional doom, but also years of work making what could be argued as the most accomplished outing of their tenure.

That’s not to take anything away from Mythical and Magical, which was comprised of material written during Pagan Altar‘s first run, or Lords of Hypocrisy or Volume I, The Time Lord or anything else the Joneses have brought to bear intermittently over the last 35 years, only to say that The Room of Shadows has a nearly impossible charge before it in living up to its narrative and it does so with cohesive songwriting and without getting lost in either its doomly ambient mire or the weight of its conceptual task.

From opener “Rising of the Dead” through the landmark hook of “The Portrait of Dorian Gray,” the playful horror thematic of “Danse Macabre,” the Sabbathian centerpiece “Dance of the Vampires,” the proto-metal thrust of the title-track, the 10:36 grandeur of “The Ripper” and its accompanying minute-long epilogue “After Forever” — it does not seem like coincidence that one title comes from Judas Priest and the other from Black Sabbath, though neither is a cover — The Room of Shadows unfolds classic-sounding underground metal with rare clarity and poise that highlights Jones‘ vocals and presents them as part of a complete picture of what Pagan Altar still very much have to offer listeners; not just a voice from the past, so to speak, but an enduring take on heaviness that’s relevant in atmosphere as much as craft.

pagan altar

In the fluidity of “The Ripper” alone, JonesJonesDiccon and Green engage distinctly NWOBHM dynamic through multiple patient movements, loud, quiet and dramatic, with a turn to a more storytelling lyric, where earlier, the pair of “Danse Macabre” and “Dance of the Vampires” finds Terry descriptive. That there should be so much focus on death throughout The Room of Shadows — “Rising of the Dead,” “Danse Macabre,” Dance of the Vampires,” “The Ripper,” etc. — is somewhat eerie when one considers it as a posthumous release, but again, it’s the songs themselves that allow Pagan Altar to get through this material without being consumed entirely by the “last album” factor. Whatever else it may be for the band, it is a considerable achievement.

And one apparently some time in the making. “The Portrait of Dorian Gray,” with its uptempo, standout chorus, dates back to the 2011 split with Mirror of Deception and late that same year was posted as representing Pagan Altar‘s next album, then due in 2012. How far back the other material on The Room of Shadows might go in terms of composition or specific recording date, I don’t know, but Alan‘s taking charge of the instrumental elements behind his father’s vocals ostensibly to give the band the best representation possible serves the dual purpose of lending a freshness and energy to the tracks. One can hear it clearly in his soloing on “The Ripper” or in the gallop of Green‘s double-kick in the second half of “Dance of the Vampires” as much as the effective atmospherics of the slower parts in “Rising of the Dead” and the initial minutes of “The Room of Shadows” itself, which also finds father and son harmonizing a tale of a scared child before taking off at a briskly punctuated, lead-topped clip; the tinge of UK/Celtic folk in Terry‘s voice not at all lost in either the subdued or the raucous moments.

Complemented by gracefully strummed guitar shimmer, that will come into play again on the 1:33 “After Forever,” which closes The Room of Shadows with a duly poetic last verse and resonant emotional finish that succeeds despite the thematic turn between the title-track and “The Ripper” before it. Pagan Altar spent three and a half decades as an underrated band, and The Room of Shadows may in fact be their final offering — though of course one never knows and there are always opportunities for live albums, lost tracks collections, etc. — but as its eponymous cut, as “The Portrait of Dorian Gray,” as “Danse Macabre” and the rest of its inclusions show, they’re an act capable of finding vibrant delivery in the realms of darkness and death, and if there’s a chance these songs might carry their story forward to a new generation in terms of audience, that’s a chance well worth taking. Born of tragedy and defeat, The Room of Shadows brims with timeless victory.

Pagan Altar on Thee Facebooks

Pagan Altar on Bandcamp

Pagan Altar website

Temple of Mystery Records website

Temple of Mystery Records on Thee Facebooks

Tags: , , , , ,

Pagan Altar Announce Final Album The Room of Shadows Due Aug. 24

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 5th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

One tends to bristle at the prospect of a ‘last’ anything when it comes to rock and roll, but with the 2014 passing of frontman Terry Jones, it does seem likely that Pagan Altar‘s forthcoming Room of Shadows will be their final studio outing. Completed by guitarist Alan Jones behind Terry‘s vocal tracks with bassist Diccon Harper and drummer Andy Green, the record is set to arrive Aug. 24 via Temple of Mystery Records, which will launch preorders in July. Still, maybe they’ll have a live record or some lost recordings or something else out at some point. A ‘last’ album is pretty rare, even if this is the last ‘new’ one.

Jones, Harper and Green will subsequently team with Magic Circle frontman Brendan Radigan and Cauchemar guitarist Andres Arango as Time Lord — also the name of the EP by which Pagan Altar made their initial return in 2004 — at the Wings of Metal Festival in Montreal. The PR wire has details:

pagan altar

PAGAN ALTAR to release long-awaited final album through TEMPLE OF MYSTERY, unearth rare video

Legendary NWOBHM/doom band Pagan Altar will release their long-awaited final album, Room of Shadows, on CD, cassette, and vinyl through the Canadian label Temple of Mystery Records on August 24th, 2017.

Originally set to be out in 2014 as Never Quite Dead, this brilliant album will feature exquisite unreleased Pagan Altar material with Terry Jones on vocals. Having being heavily postponed for various reasons, the recordings were completely redone with Alan Jones on guitar, and former Pagan Altar members Diccon Harper on bass and Andy Green on drums.

The band, reformed in 2004, was put to a halt in 2014 with the tragic passing of its beloved frontman Terry Jones, who had been bravely battling cancer for a year prior. The album will thus be released in homage to this true gentleman, who was well loved by his treasured family and fans.

Room of Shadows, which will feature artwork by painter Adam Burke, is certain to delight fans who enjoyed the band’s previous timeless work with its epic riffs and enchanting, poetic macabre lyrics of olde.

Release party at Wings of Metal Festival

Alan Jones, Diccon Harper, and Andy Green – under the moniker “Time Lord” – will be paired with session members Brandon Radigan (vocals – Magic Circle) and Andres Arango (second guitar – Cauchemar, Metalian) to play a special release party/tribute to Terry in Montreal at the Wings of Metal show on September 9th, 2017.

Pre-orders for Pagan Altar – Room of Shadows (TEMPLE-005) will be offered in early July at www.templeofmystery.ca.

www.templeofmystery.ca
www.facebook.com/templeofmysteryrecs

Pagan Altar, “The Black Mass” live in 1984

Tags: , , , , ,

Friday Full-Length: Pagan Altar, Lords of Hypocrisy

Posted in Bootleg Theater on January 8th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

Pagan Altar, Lords of Hypocrisy (2004)

I’ve been thinking of late about heavy rock in the ’80s, and just where the hell it went. By 1975, many of the bands who were slinging riffs a’plenty just four or five years earlier were distant private press memories. Or they went prog. Or they grew into more commercial arena rock. Disco, contrary to what was thought at the time, didn’t kill rock and roll. Heavy metal was quickly taking shape in the mid-’70s and punk was doing the same thing. Certainly the ’80s — and I’m sorry for generalizing an entire decade, but one has to categorize these things somehow or the brain will explode — had no shortage of rock and roll, from L.A. glam to East Coast hardcore and everything in between. There were some bands on the West Coast dipping into psychedelia in the early ’80s for the so-called “paisley underground,” but the hardest-hitting of them didn’t come close to the kind of heft that groups were producing a decade earlier. The heavy, it seems, went in a different direction altogether.

It got darker, turned to the atmosphere of its riffy roots and, as with bands like Pagan Altar, Witchfinder General and many others, established a principal tenet of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal that holds firm throughout many metallic subgenres today: It started taking itself very seriously. Yeah, there were chains, and fire, and sometimes Rob Halford rode in on a motorcycle (by “sometimes,” I mean every show), but if you wanted fluff, go listen to dance music. Heavy metal was serious business.

Not really fair to call this the beginning of doom, since like rock and roll itself, doom is traceable back to the blues in the early 20th century, but it’s a pivotal moment for understanding what we consider doom metal today, and why we consider one record doom and another one not. Pagan Altar‘s Lords of Hypocrisy — recorded between 1982-1984 and left to languish for the next two decades until a 2004 re-recording and release (2013 reissues on Shadow Kingdom and Cruz del Sur) — is a prime example. The vocabulary and the delineation between metal and doom might not have existed the same way it does 30-plus years later, but Lords of Hypocrisy is every bit a doom record in intent as well as execution.

We know names like Trouble, Candlemass, Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, Pentagram and so on, and these are pivotal acts, but divide seems so extreme between the bright, made-up dopey smiles of glam and the no-fun-all-drugs downerism of early doom metal (and, for that matter, thrash, which had just about everything in common with doom except tempo), that I can’t help but think of political party lines being drawn and remaining uncrossed. I wasn’t there — I was four in 1985 and not that cool a kid, sorry — but it seems to me that what would’ve been the middle ground between these polar opposites was solid, engaging, by-then-traditional heavy rock and roll. Where were the new bands, not ’70s holdovers in metal, punk or rock, doing that?

For Pagan Altar‘s part, they remain thoroughly underappreciated, mostly in terms of what they could’ve contributed atmospherically to the NWOBHM at the time had they managed to get a record out. Their debut, Volume 1 was tracked in 1982 and released in 1998, by then following up an impressive self-titled demo released 16 years prior. Lords of Hypocrisy is a prime marriage of elder methods and modern sound that few in the NWOBHM or out of it have managed to capture, completely absent the self-indulgent grandiosity of Iron Maiden or or the strange, half-hearted attempts of many of Pagan Altar‘s contemporaries to recapture something that was lost, its rawness and honesty bleed through the quiet stretches of “Armageddon” as much as the quick, comical “The Devil Came Down to Brockley” — Brockley, UK, being the band’s home — or the building emotionalism of “The Masquerade,” and it’s simply a superior level of output. It’s not as clean or crisp sounding as any number of records by Saxon, but like Witchfinder General, like Venom and others, Pagan Altar were always shooting for a different kind of heavy.

The band, reactivated since 2004, suffered a tragedy last year with the death of founding vocalist Terry Jones. At the time, they were said to have a new album, titled Never Quite Dead, in the mastering stage, but there’s been no word since about whether or not it will ultimately surface posthumous to Jones‘ contributions. His passing was a greater loss than heavy metal realized.

But of course, the work remains, and in the case of Lords of Hypocrisy, it’s amazing how vital this material sounds for having sat around for 20 years. Part of the appeal of doom very often is that it sounds like it’s from another time. In this, as in the best of cases, that seems to make it timeless. Hope you enjoy.

Busted laptop. Jury duty. The radio stream down. A full-time job. The goddamned Quarterly Review. A whole pastiche of ongoing medical shit. It’s a good thing The Patient Mrs. wasn’t around for most of this week, because I’ll be completely honest with you, I was a friggin’ wreck. After I finished writing the last of the posts for today last night, I pretty much curled up in the fetal position on the couch, put on Mystery Science Theater 3000 and was about as mentally ready to completely check out as I can remember being in a long, long time. It has been a draining few days and I’m looking forward to a restorative weekend. I hope to sleep until 10AM at least once.

The Patient Mrs. returned last night, incidentally, and today took about five seconds out of her own busy existence to bring mine into order, which was thoroughly appreciated and duly humbling, as I no doubt would’ve continued my caveman flailing until finally clubbing myself in the face and losing consciousness, existentially speaking. I cannot begin to tell you how fortunate I am to have her in my life.

I’m also heaving a sigh of relief today because jury duty didn’t result in me being picked for anything. Basically I gave up a morning and an early part of an afternoon to the cause of being called up to a judge’s sidebar and telling him that I don’t believe in human impartiality. Might’ve been worth it if I’d had been able to bring a functioning laptop with me to dick around on during the mind-numbing stretches of waiting in the jury pool. “Would you differently consider the testimony of a policeman rather than that of a civilian?” Uh, yes. Because I’m not an idiot. “Is there any reason you would be unable to judge this case impartially?” Yes, because there’s no such thing as impartiality. I was amazed to be the only person raising my hand.

Anyway, it’s over, and unlike the last two, three, however many weeks it’s been, the furthest I’m traveling this weekend is maybe to Boston, which is about an hour, so I’m stoked for what I hope will be some mental resource-gathering and getting my head together.

Monday, look out for a track premiere from Thermic Boogie. Also next week, reviews of WitchcraftMatus and hopefully Terraplane. I gotta look at my notes when I get back to my once-again-functioning laptop that The Patient Mrs. had repaired this afternoon while I was at work, but there’s probably more I can’t think of, in addition to the news, on which I’m also already and perpetually behind. Hey, I put up 50 reviews this week. I’m doing the best I can.

As I know we all are. Please, have a great and tremendous and not-at-all-injurious weekend, and please, check out the forum and the radio stream.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Pagan Altar, The Time Lord: The Mantra of the Tumult

Posted in Reviews on September 13th, 2012 by JJ Koczan

Since regrouping in 2004 and releasing their second album, The Lords of Hypocrisy, and following two years later with Magical & Mythical, things have been relatively quiet for unsung NWOBHM heroes Pagan Altar. Vinyl splits with Jex Thoth in 2007 and Mirror of Deception in 2011 have kept their name out there, but the father/son founding team of Terry Jones (vocals) and Alan Jones (guitar/backing vocals) have been pretty quiet, playing sporadically but not with any great regularity or promotion. That may or may not change in 2013 as the Joneses make their US debut with a new lineup of Pagan Altar at the Maryland Deathfest – an appearance that hopefully arrives concurrently to a new album – but until then, the band look backwards with a reissue of some of their earliest recordings in the form of the 32-minute The Time Lord collection. Released on CD by respectable NWOBHM historians Shadow Kingdom Records (see also Manilla Road, Jameson Raid, Wolfbane and doom from Iron Man, Revelation and Argus, among others), this remastered, re-artworked version of The Time Lord is actually a reissue of a reissue, these five tracks having seen release on vinyl in 2004 when the band first came back together, but in the spirit of 1998’s Volume 1 – which was recorded in 1982 – 2012 finds these tracks from 1978-’79 no less thrilling than they might ever have been, the opening duo of “Highway Cavalier” and the title-track recorded at a professional studio in London and the remaining three – “Judgement of the Dead,” “The Black Mass” and “Reincarnation” put to tape in the band’s own studio. And it was tape. You can hear the audio hiss on “Judgement of the Dead,” from 1978, Terry and Alan Jones joined by bassist Glen Robinson and drummer Ivor Harper, who’d be replaced by Mark Elliott by the time 1979 arrived. It being a collection of material recorded across a swath of time and with different personnel – “Highway Cavalier” and “The Time Lord” also feature second guitarist Les Moody – an overarching flow isn’t really a concern, but it’s worth noting that one can listen to The Time Lord as a single record and not just a compilation and find it enjoyable on that level as well, the pre-shred in the guitars of “Highway Cavalier” portending what underground metal would become as it matured over the next decade.

It’s the shortest track on The Time Lord by nearly three full minutes, but “Highway Cavalier” might also be the most aptly-titled song on the release. At 2:37, it establishes some kinship with Motörhead’s pervasive bullshit-free ethic and relies on head-down, forward-directed push which Terry tops with vocal grit that’s still melodic without being overdone. The chug is slower than Pagan Altar’s London-based contemporaries, who would release Overkill the next year, but the simplicity of the groove is there, and it echoes as much through the material as Terry’s singing does while he sings about the idyllic biker-type freedom of the open highway: “I’m living free and easy/That’s how it’s gonna be/I’m free, free, free to be me.” It’s a chorus that only has time to repeat twice but nonetheless proves among the most effective on The Time Lord, setting up an interesting context for the more psychedelic “The Time Lord,” which takes a relatively simple guitar line and draws out the leads to efficiently give the song a sense of space. It’s quite a jump from frill-less “Highway Cavalier” to the title-cut, but the latter has a no-less-straightforward structure for its first half and it’s not until after a final chorus around four minutes in that Pagan Altar – then Terry and Alan as well as Moody, Robinson and Harper – break into an extended instrumental jam that rounds out the remainder of the time, a bit of Southern inflection working into the guitar solo underscored by Robinson’s low end righteousness (no doubt bolstered by the remaster job here) as Harper skillfully holds the progression together and provides a sense of linear movement. They crash to a relatively unceremonious finish, like they just decided to stop – though one imagines they kept that jam going much longer in practice at the time – and “Judgement of the Dead” brings about the first of the three self-recordings. The sound is rougher, but not terribly or detrimentally so – the lo-fi production and tape hiss fit the slower, Sabbath-style plod of the track pretty well. Terry delivers an excellently warbling cave echo vocal and though they’ve lost Moody in the interim, the guitars still have time to add little flourishes like plucking the strings up on the headstock and not missing a beat in the central riff of the verse. Rather than a long instrumental second half, “Judgement of the Dead” brings back its chorus in the midst of a break and then cycles through again, ending just under the seven-minute mark with one last chorus.

Read more »

Tags: , , ,

Pagan Altar Post Track off Forthcoming Album

Posted in Bootleg Theater on December 26th, 2011 by JJ Koczan

The song is called “Portrait of Dorian Gray,” and it takes its name from Oscar Wilde‘s 1890 novel. It was written in 2006 and released in September on Pagan Altar‘s split with Mirror of Deception on Cyclone Empire. Reportedly, it will also be included on Pagan Altar‘s 2012 full-length, which will be the follow-up to 2006’s Mythical and Magical. Definitely something to look forward to in classic doom.

Tags: , , ,