Pagan Altar is an English heavy metal and

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band. It was formed by Terry Jones and his son Alan in 1978 in the borough of

Brockley Brockley is a district and an wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham south-east of Charing Cross. It has been named the best area of London to live in. It is an area rich in Vi ...

in London and was part of the

new wave of British heavy metal The new wave of British heavy metal (often abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that began in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Editor Alan Lewis (music journalist), Alan Lew ...

(NWOBHM).

History

Pagan Altar's only release from the NWOBHM era was an independent, self-released, self-titled demo album (which was heavily bootlegged in later years). The album would be re-released as an official full-length on Oracle Records in 1998, retitled "Volume 1". The group reformed in 2004 to re-record an album of previously unreleased material which had been written during their original tenure as a band. The resulting album, "Lords of Hypocrisy", met with a positive reception from fans, and a third full-length album duly followed in 2006, entitled "Mythical and Magical". In 2008, Pagan Altar co-headlined the "Metal Brew" Festival in

Mill Hill Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross, close to the Hertfordshire border. It was in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it b ...

, alongside

Cloven Hoof A cloven hoof, cleft hoof, divided hoof, or split hoof is a hoof split into two toes. Members of the mammalian order Artiodactyla that possess this type of hoof include cattle, deer, pigs, antelopes, gazelles, goats, and sheep. The two digits ...

. Both bands also performed at the "British Steel IV" Festival at the

Camden Underworld Camden Underworld is a music venue in Camden Town, London, England. The venue is a part of the World's End pub, situated in the basement of the building. It has a capacity of 500 people. History Over the years The Underworld has become t ...

in 2009. Pagan Altar returned to headline the "British Steel V" Festival in April 2011 and the "Live Evil" Festival in October 2011. In 2012, Pagan Altar began work on their next album "Never Quite Dead", in a purpose-built recording studio in the back garden of vocalist Terry Jones's home. The 2013 lineup included: Dean Alexander on drums, Vinny Konrad on 2nd guitar, and William Gallagher on bass guitar. On 15 May 2015, vocalist Terry Jones died of cancer. The band had finished recording their upcoming album, which was in its final mastering stage. In 2017, Alan Jones announced that he intends to partially re-record the band's upcoming album as neither he nor the late Terry Jones were happy with the finished product. Their most recent album is a compilation of rehearsals from their earlier years titled ''The Story of Pagan Altar'', released in 2021.

Musical style

Alongside Witchfinder General, Pagan Altar is one of the few

(NWOBHM) bands to play

.Pagan Altar at BNR Metal
The band's concerts are characterised by moody, epic and heavy music, blended with stage effects which accentuate their interest in

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

themes.

Discography

Albums

* ''Judgement of the Dead'' (1982) * ''Lords of Hypocrisy'' (2004) * ''Mythical and Magical'' (2006) * ''Room of Shadows'' (2017) * ''The Story of Pagan Altar'' (2021) * ''Never Quite Dead'' (2025)

EP

* ''The Time Lord'' (2004, re-released as a special edition in 2012)

Singles

* Pagan Altar – "Walking in the Dark" / Jex Thoth – "Stone Evil" (Split single, 2007) * Pagan Altar – " Portrait of Dorian Gray" / " Mirror of Deception" – "Beltaine's Joy" (Imperial Anthems split single, 2011) * "Walking in the Dark" / "Narcissus" (2013)

Demo

* ''Pagan Altar'' (1982)

References

External links

Official website
* {{Authority control English doom metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups disestablished in 1985 Musical groups reestablished in 2004 Musical groups from the London Borough of Lewisham Occult rock musical groups New Wave of British Heavy Metal musical groups Black Widow Records artists