Pagan Rock on the
Web
Last edited 9 September 2002
artist added 21 January 2001
album review added 21 January 2001
Artist Links & Reviews - News - Pagan
Music Links
Why Pagan Rock?
Throughout the ages, members of various religious groups have been moved to express their spirituality through
the arts, and the modern revival of ancient pagan beliefs is no exception to this rule. Most of the music which
is generally labelled as "pagan", however, tends to fall into the acoustic or "New Age" categories.
While there's nothing inherently wrong with these genres, it seemed to me that they overemphasized the qualities
of air and water. I therefore went looking for pagan music which embraced the energies of fire and earth. I found
it in the community of musicians who are melding pagan themes with modern rock idioms. The searing flame of an
electric guitar solo, the pounding solidity of the kick drum - these spoke to me in a way that other pagan musics
did not.
These bands have one thing in common: they all number pagans among their members. Some of them center their
lyrical efforts entirely around pagan themes, while others mix pagan songs with more "standard" rock
fare, or infuse non-pagan lyrics with pagan themes or imagery. Most of them would reject the label "pagan
rock" as being too limiting to truly represent their music. While I've chosen to use that label for convenience,
I acknowledge that the vision of these artists cannot be captured so simply. I hope you'll bear that in mind as
you explore these links.
News & New Info
- Many things have greater demands on my time than this website, not least of which is my ongoing effort to start a pagan rock band of my very own. If this happens, you'll read about it here first; in the meantime, updates to this website will be extremely sporadic. I encourage you to visit the Pagan Musicians section of The Witches' Voice for more up-to-date links and pagan music news.
Album Reviews
Since this isn't the sort of music you're likely to hear on your local radio station (unless you're lucky enough
to live in the broadcast area of Murphy's Magic
Mess), I thought it might be useful to provide some sort of quasi-objective opinions on the bands listed here.
To that end, I've compiled an album review section for all the music that I have on hand from these artists. Look
for the "Album Reviews" links under the entries for individual artists, or get the
whole list. More albums will be added as I get my hands on them, so check back occasionally.
A note to bands: to those of you who've sent me albums to be reviewed, my deepest apologies if said review has not yet materialized. I hope to complete my backlog in the near future. Since I have a backlog, I would prefer not to be contacted by other bands who want me to review their music; I'm sure it's great stuff, but I simply haven't the time. Maybe sometime soon.
Other Sites For Pagan Music
Serpentine Music is a mail-order company devoted to
pagan music - not just rock, but acoustic, Celtic, instrumental, and chant material as well. Highly recommended.
Earth Tones Studios carries a wide variety of pagan music, videos, instruments,
and other interesting items.
The Witches' Voice maintains links to a wide variety
of pagan musicians (both rock and non-rock oriented), as well as Internet retailers and other sites of interest.
Pagan music and other radio programming, brought to you via Internet audio!
Recently, sites for independent pagan record labels have begun to spring up on the Web. Hopefully we will see
more of these in the near future, and a corresponding increase in the number of musicians who have material out
in the community. Check out some of these sites:
For stories which intertwine magic, myth, and rock music, check out the following:
- Alchemy VII
Epic, theatrical rock erupts from this lively Minneapolis band.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Alchemy VII's page
- Annwn
Bringing an innovative edge to traditional Irish tunes and pagan-bent originals, Annwn rocks out with a blend of
funky bass, fiddle, flute, and electric guitars.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Serpentine Music
- Avalon Rising
featured on Fire & Stone: Pagan Rock Vol. 1
This San Francisco band prefers to call themselves "pantheist" rather than "pagan", but their
mix of Celtic and medieval-influenced rock should strike a chord with many pagans.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Serpentine Music
- Isaac Bonewits and Real Magic
Folk rock from one of neopaganism's foremost scholars. You can find some of his lyrics here.
- Bootlegg Shaman
Groovin', jazz-inflected blues-rock flows from this Atlanta-area five-piece band.
- Butterfly Messiah
This Florida duo fuses ambient and darkwave sounds into a haunting blend of ethereal vocals and eerie soundscapes.
- Clan na Gael
Wonderfully multi-instrumental Celtic folk rock from Nevada. Look for them on tour in the Nevada-California area.
- Coven 13
This Salem duo combines lush, passionate male vocals with intricate piano to produce their distinctive brand of ornate Gothic rock.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Coven 13's homepage
- Francesca De Grandis
A published author and teacher as well as a musician, Francesca uses her music to invoke "the Three-fold Goddess:
blues, jazz, and Celtic music."
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Serpentine Music or Francesca's
page
- Def FX
A fusion of "progressive techno, intelligent metal and evocative lyrics", this Australian band had more
than a measure of success - they hit the Alternative charts in their home country and toured with such high-profile
artists as the Smashing Pumpkins before their recent breakup.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Greg's Music World
- Direwolf
featured on Fire & Stone: Pagan Rock Vol. 1
This trio from Indianapolis energizes their songs with precise rhythms and deft musicianship, crafting their own
blend of high-octane rock.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: IUMA
Concert reviews:
- Dreamchild
This Boston-based band relies heavily on guitar synthesis and shifting soundscapes for their oceanic, emotional
atmosphere.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Dreamchild homepage
- Dreamtrybe
This Austin band blends full-tilt bass and keyboards, tribal percussion and drum kit, and complex songwriting to create one of the most distinctive - and popular -
sounds in the modern pagan scene.
- Druidspear
English folk-rock flavored with psychedelia and other musical spices.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Serpentine Music
- The Dryads
This Chicago group offers up "experimental Celtic darkwave" for those of a darker bent.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: the Dryads homepage
- Earthstone
"Techno-Pagan progressive rock". Further info can be had on Chris Phillips' Earthstone
(and Related) Information Service. Their label, Kinesis,
has other mythic-type music which might bear investigation.
- Emerald Rose
This acoustic Georgian band adds original songwriting to their take on traditional Celtic repertoire.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Emerald Rose homepage
- Five to the Fifth
Rock, electronica, and hip-hop all combine in the cauldron of this St. Louis Thelemic collective.
- Future Perfect
A Florida duo, combining complex, dense instrumental work of the progressive art school with powerful vocals.
- Gaia Consort
Catchy, insightful acoustic folk-pop from Seattle songwriter Christopher Bingham and company.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Gaia Consort's webpage
- Gossamer
This Ohio group of multi-instrumentalists brings a fey spirit to their gothic compositions.
- Inkubus Sukkubus
English goth rock, leaning more toward medieval-type witchcraft than "standard" neopaganism.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Serpentine Music
- Fritz Jung
Infectious pagan pop music from the Witches’ voice webmaster.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Earth Tones Studios
- Lane Lambert and Patrick Chambers
Lane's album Tristan and Iseult: A Celtic Love Story retells the tragic story of these two lovers with word and song.
- Legend
This English four-piece band has been together since the late Eighties, making them one of the longest-lived pagan
bands around. Legend plays rock influenced by folk and classical elements, and prefers complex, epic song structures.
Their company, Pagan Media, markets their albums as well as additional
pagan material.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Serpentine Music
- Loke E. Coyote
featured on Fire & Stone: Pagan Rock Vol. 1
This 'wiccabilly' band answers the question "What if Weird Al Yankovic were a pagan band?" with a bizarrely
eclectic blend of musical styles and left-field lyrics.
- Polly Moller
Polly crosses virtuosic, avant-garde flute playing with beat-poet, mystic songwriting for an experimental take on pagan music.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Silver Wheel Music
- The Moors
A trance-inducing mix of tribal percussion, Arabic-inflected guitar, and multilingual vocals (English, Scottish
Gaelic, Latin) make this Boston duo's music a unique pagan experience.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Castle von Buhler Records
- Music For the Goddess
Diverse, multi-faceted pop and rock music - some pagan, some more commercial, all with spirit.
- Craig Olson
featured on Fire & Stone: Pagan Rock Vol. 1
Craig blends tribal percussion with deft piano and guitar to ornament his songs honoring the Earth and the spirits
which inhabit it.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Craig’s homepage
- Pandemonaeon
featured on Fire & Stone: Pagan Rock Vol. 1
This Bay Area band has been likened to early Fleetwood Mac, adding Celtic and Middle Eastern elements to their
own brand of evocative trance-rock.
- Pius
Salem pagan composer Dino Simonetti weaves an elusive and evocative ambient spell.
Album reviews:
- Point of Ares
featured on Fire & Stone: Pagan Rock Vol. 1
Apollonian and Dionysian viewpoints combine in this heady mix of complex, goth-inflected hard rock.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Point of Ares/Arula Records homepage
- Powers Court
Pagan-influenced heavy metal from St. Louis.
- Radical Usurper
Guitar rock of the alternative/metal school carries songs of renewal and shaman strength.
- Rhea's Obsession
Celtic meets Middle Eastern in atmospheric, tranced-out soundscapes.
- Wendy Rule
featured on Fire & Stone: Pagan Rock Vol. 1
This Melbourne, Australia native uses her rock and jazz pedigree to good advantage in crafting ethereal songs suggestive
of Dead Can Dance or 'Enya with balls'(!).
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Wendy's homepage
- Seraphim
Mystic, acoustic, ambient, psychedelic....
Album reviews:
- Serpentine
Not for the faint of heart. Dark, gothic, Middle-Eastern grooves underlie songs of despair, grief, and the reclaiming
of women's voices.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Serpentine Music
- Shaman
This highly eclectic group forges "Earth Music" out of Celtic, Middle Eastern, zydeco, blues, and other
influences.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Shaman's homepage
- Skyclad
Celtic folk-metal from northern England (Newcastle). Quite popular in Britain and Europe, but unfortunately not
quite as well known here.
- Spiral Dance
Excellent Celtic folk rock from Australia.
- Sun God
Featuring Rodney Orpheus of Cassandra Complex, this trio's first
album deals heavily with Voudou in its lyric content, although the music is more electro-industrial than tribal.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Fifth Colvmn Records
- Tales of Witchcraft
featured on Fire & Stone: Pagan Rock Vol. 1
John Loughman's latest musical, based loosely on the Salem witch trials, tells a sympathetic tale of two young
women caught in the grip of the Puritan witch craze.
Album reviews:
- Kari Tauring
This Minneapolis singer-songwriter blends groovy folk-rock with intelligent, clever lyrics.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Kari's homepage
- Uncle Dirtytoes
Traditional Celtic sounds and songs mixed with modern songwriting and instruments makes for an excellent Midwestern
sound.
- Universal Joint
featured on Fire & Stone: Pagan Rock Vol. 1
Danceable alternative folk-rock served up by this Ohio band.
- Various Artists
Reviews of compilations, festival discs, and other collective musical efforts.
Album reviews:
- Velvet Hammer
Velvet Hammer is now Dreamtrybe! See the Dreamtrybe listing for their new web site and other info.
Album reviews:
Ordering info: Serpentine Music or
the Dreamtrybe/Velvet Hammer homepage
Concert reviews:
- The Violet Dawning
Darkwave duo (vocals and keyboards) from Virginia.
Thanks to all the bands who have consented to have their pages listed here, and particular thanks to everyone who
has visited this site and taken the time to mail me with a comment or a new link. I couldn't have done it without
you.
I'll be adding new bands as I become aware of their pages. If you have a link that you think belongs here, send it to me and I'll add it to the list. Be warned, though: bands
that just happen to have pseudo-pagan or anti-Christian lyrics will not be listed here. My aim is to promote music
that has a positive pagan message.
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All content © 1997-2002 Scott Martin