Pagan rock is a genre of rock music created by adherents of

neopagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some common simila ...

traditions. It emerged as a distinct genre from

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

in the 1980s. Bands in this genre will often use pagan and occult imagery and deal with pagan themes. In some cases the definition is stretched to include rock bands embraced by modern Pagans.

History

Pagan rock as a more distinct genre emerged in the United Kingdom in 1980s, in particular from

and related

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

genres. Gothic rock had become popular among younger pagans as an alternative to the singer-songwriter style established by pagans from the

baby-boom generation Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the demographic cohort preceded by the Silent Generation and followed by Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964 during the mid-20th century baby boom that fol ...

, which dominated the neopagan institutions in the 1980s and 1990s. One of the first bands to be labeled as Pagan rock by the press was

Inkubus Sukkubus Inkubus Sukkubus are an English goth and pagan rock band, formed in 1989 by Candia Ridley, Tony McKormack and Adam Henderson, who have been described as one of the most enduringly popular underground Goth bands in the UK. They also have been d ...

, founded in 1989, who have

Wicca Wicca (), also known as "The Craft", is a Modern paganism, modern pagan, syncretic, Earth religion, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esote ...

n members and whose songs use pagan imagery and pagan themes. After Inkubus Sukkubus had some mainstream success with their debut album in 1993, many gothic rock and darkwave bands emerged with neopagan members and lyrical themes. By the mid-2000s, pagan rock had become fully integrated into the mainstream of neopagan events and institutions.

Characteristics

The term "Pagan rock" differentiates the genre from

new-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather tha ...

, and from the traditional

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

found at many Neopagan events and gatherings. While many bands under this loose category do incorporate

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

styles, one can also find bands inspired by gothic rock,

medieval music Medieval music encompasses the sacred music, sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the Dates of classical music eras, first and longest major era of Western class ...

, the darker elements of

traditional A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

and

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celts (modern), Celtic people of Northwestern Europe (the modern Celtic nations). It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and ...

neofolk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrume ...

and neo-classical,

darkwave Dark wave, or darkwave, is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as being dark, ro ...

ethereal Ethereal may refer to: * Ethereal (horse), a horse that won Australia's Caulfield Cup as well as Melbourne Cup in 2001 * Ethereal (musician), American rapper and record producer * Ethereal wave, or simply ethereal, a subgenre of dark wave music * W ...

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

, industrial and

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

. In many ways, the label of "Pagan rock" carries with it the same complexities and problems as

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. This music is typically performed by Christians, Christian individuals. The extent to whi ...

. Like contemporary Christian music, it is more an umbrella term than a cohesive musical genre. The Pagan rock label can include bands like Inkubus Sukkubus and The Moon and the Nightspirit who explicitly state their allegiance to Neopaganism; bands like

Abney Park Abney Park is in Stoke Newington, London, England. It is a park dating from just before 1700, named after Lady Abney, the wife of Sir Thomas Abney, Lord Mayor of London in 1700 and one of the first directors of the Bank of England and associa ...

who have Neopagans in the band but do not label themselves as pagan rock, and bands like

Unto Ashes Unto Ashes is an American musical ensemble based in New York City that incorporates madrigal, folk, and elements of neo-medieval and darkwave. Founded by Michael Laird and Susanna Melendez in 1997, the band has released twelve full-length CDs ...

who sing songs involving occult and Neopagan themes but avoid publicly labeling their personal belief systems.

References

Citations

Sources

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External links