Pagan Rock on the Web


Last edited 9 September 2002
New artist added 21 January 2001
New 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!

* Pagan Broadcast Network
* Wicca Radio Network
* WGDS Goddess Radio
* Pagan Festival Radio on Supanova

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:

* Arula Records
* Brewer's Witch Productions
* Earth Tones Studios
* Morrigan Records
* Silver Wheel Music

For stories which intertwine magic, myth, and rock music, check out the following:

* Gossamer Axe, a novel by Gael Baudino.
* The three-issue comic Mythos from DC/Vertigo.

* Alchemy VII
Epic, theatrical rock erupts from this lively Minneapolis band.
Album reviews:
o The Magick Vol. 1
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:
o Anarchy and Rapture
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:
o Avalon Rising
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:
o Book of Shadows
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:
o Pick the Apple From the Tree
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:
o Majick
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:
o Direwolf
Ordering info: IUMA
Concert reviews:
o Indianapolis 30 May 1997

* Dreamchild
This Boston-based band relies heavily on guitar synthesis and shifting soundscapes for their oceanic, emotional atmosphere.
Album reviews:
o Gates to the Sea
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:
o Gotterfunken Volume 1
o ....Slow
Ordering info: Serpentine Music

* The Dryads
This Chicago group offers up "experimental Celtic darkwave" for those of a darker bent.
Album reviews:
o goltraighe
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:
o Bending Tradition !NEW!
o Emerald Rose
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:
o Gaia Circles
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:
o Away With the Faeries
o Heartbeat of the Earth
Ordering info: Serpentine Music

* Fritz Jung
Infectious pagan pop music from the Witches’ voice webmaster.
Album reviews:
o Celtic Feast of the Dead
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:
o Second Sight
o Triple Aspect
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:
o Summerland
o Taste the Wall
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:
o The Moors
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:
o Beyond the Cedar Moon
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:
o Pagan Alchemy Vols. 1 & 2

* 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:
o Enemy Glory
o The Sorrows of Young Apollo
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:
o Deity
o Zero
Ordering info: Wendy's homepage

* Seraphim !NEW!
Mystic, acoustic, ambient, psychedelic....
Album reviews:
o Love Light Fire !NEW!

* 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:
o rock the goddess
Ordering info: Serpentine Music

* Shaman
This highly eclectic group forges "Earth Music" out of Celtic, Middle Eastern, zydeco, blues, and other influences.
Album reviews:
o The Green Man
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:
o Sun God
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:
o Tales of Witchcraft soundtrack CD

* Kari Tauring
This Minneapolis singer-songwriter blends groovy folk-rock with intelligent, clever lyrics.
Album reviews:
o Faith In Me
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:
o Music is the Magick, Magick Weaves the Spell: Heartland '98
Ordering info: Heartland Spiritual Alliance

* Velvet Hammer
Velvet Hammer is now Dreamtrybe! See the Dreamtrybe listing for their new web site and other info.
Album reviews:
o Come Down
o Storybook
Ordering info: Serpentine Music or the Dreamtrybe/Velvet Hammer homepage
Concert reviews:
o Indianapolis 30 May 1997
o Toledo 30 May 1998

* 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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