INTERVIEW: Pagan Altar makes US debut at Maryland Deathfest

Pagan Altar

Think traditional heavy metal, and you should be thinking of the band Pagan Altar. Pagan Altar will play the 2013 Maryland Deathfest Sunday, May 26 at one of the former Sonar compound stages. This will be the first time Pagan Altar performs in the U.S.

Founded in the UK in the mid 1970s, this father-son project has a rich history of producing occult infused heaviness accompanied by equally theatrical stage presentations. The group logged just one cassette demo recording in 1982. Bootlegs of the demo helped spread the word. The band played a lot of gigs and, over time, Pagan Altar accrued a cult-like following, although mostly within the UK.

In 1998, the six demo songs were re-released on CD as Volume 1 by Oracle Records. With the advent of the Internet, interest in Pagan Altar began to spread rapidly beyond the confines of Great Britain. The bulk of their recordings have occurred in the 2000s.

Vocalist and lyricist Terry Jones is distinctive in the genre. To me it sounds like a cross between Steve Winwood and a young Ozzy Osbourne. His son, lead guitarist Alan Jones, authors the heavy riff-laden music. Second guitar duties go to Vince Hempstead, Dean Alexander plays drums and Liam Gallagher plays bass.

Always mysterious and ever heavy, the sounds of Pagan Altar will lure you into their darkened realm. The music is simple, melodic and unaffected but never boring. Each song builds layer upon layer until you get caught up in their spell.

Vince Hempstead graciously responded to a few questions.

How long has this current lineup been together? 
This line up has been together for one year although I have been with the band for two years, Dean for nearly four years; Terry and Alan are the only original members.

What would you say is an essential Pagan Altar recording? 
“The Rising of the Dark Lord” seems very popular and has had the most YouTube hits out of all the tracks so we are going to be playing that track at MDF as it has never been played before with the current line up and has only been played once before ever live.

How does your band feel about playing Maryland Deathfest? What have you heard about this festival?
We are all very excited and honored, as we have heard it is the biggest and best metal festival in USA with constant great bands playing.

What other bands playing MDF do you hope to see perform? 
We are very much looking forward to seeing Manilla Road and were happy that there set is the same day as ours.

Will you be doing other shows as part of your stop at MDF or is this appearance exclusive?
The agreement for our appearance is this would be an exclusive show, but we aim to come back in the future for smaller shows.

Will there be any unusual or special merchandize you will be selling while at MDF?
Most of the merchandise will be arranged for us, but we are bringing some new silver logo/head pendants with us that were handmade by the ex-bassist Diccon Harper. Also we are planning to have a special MDF/Pagan Altar t-shirt made just for that gig.

Is there anything else you hope to do while you are in Maryland? Eat crabs? Go to the Chesapeake Bay?
We are just happy to come and visit Maryland but the Chesapeake Bay would be a bonus if we could take time out to visit.

Is there anything else you want people to know about your band? Any new records coming up?
At the moment we are working hard to complete the new album Never Quite Dead, and this is our main priority. Any new news will be posted on our band Facebook page. 

REVIEW: Howl - Bloodlines, play Sidebar March 28

What are you doing Thursday night? You are going to see Howl at The Sidebar, that’s what. Why? Because they rock, and they have a new album out, and they drink Narragansett beer by the case, and I can spell Narragansett, which is in Rhode Island, which is where Howl is from.

ILSA, Spoilage and Dead Gods are also playing. All reasons enough. Now about this new record.

Howl

Howl’s new album Bloodlines further establishes the group as true heavy hitters in a metal market miasma dominated by snail’s pace funeral doom and core-of the week screamers. Blending blackened vocals, solid blues infused melodies with churning riffs and thrashy rhythms, Howl gives me everything I want in a metal band.

They have their doomier moments, true, but it also makes sense that this group has toured with Skeletonwitch and Red Fang, who keep the tempo upbeat and the drums pounding most of the time. I pretty much love everything about Bloodlines.

If you like groups like High on Fire, old Mastodon and Crowbar, Howl will appeal to you.

Record reviews are hard for me, so I will just give you some highlights. The second track “Midnight Eyes” roars forth and immediately assumes a thrash pace likely to get audiences moving. The chorus is headbang-worthy. This leads straight into another great song, “Demonic.” Great lyrics and memorable riffs. “One Last Night” almost has a post-metal melody, and I really like that, but it never strays from Howl’s mission of melting faces with those unrelenting power riffs.

“Down So Low” slows things down a bit to a sinister pace, with more baritone vocals coming through. “With a Blade” is among the most “doom-like” sounding songs on the album. No doubt the flavor-of-the-week kids will enjoy the fuck out of this down-tuned delight. Thankfully, “Of War” brings the tempo back up a bit. The slightly more progressive, Mastodon-y sounding “The Mouth of Madness” is also a slower track featuring death metal like chugga-chugga- guitar work and vocal harmonies.

There are some other songs on there; just buy Bloodlines when it comes out April 30. You won’t be sorry.

See you suckers tomorrow.

REVIEW: War Injun/Doomdogs 7" split

International penpals were once a method people had to learn about other cultures. Maryland’s War Injun and Sweden’s Doomdogs have created such a dialog with their new 7" split released by Svart Records. In this case, however, it’s a dialog of doom.

War Injun describe themselves as power doom, though I’d put them squarely in the stoner rock category along with Pentagram and similar. This band is all about the riff delivered expertly by Kenny Staubs and Dave Morgan. Their rhythm section, which consists of JB Matson and Tony Comulada, lays down a crushingly heavy foundation for every song.

Their contribution to the split is the previously unreleased “Smokethrower” featuring former singer JD Williams. Vocal duties were recently filled by Jack Roemer (also of Tank Murdock and formerly of Dead Men Sway). During some recent live performances Roemer, no doubt by some shamanistic spell, has been able to make War Injun’s lyrics even more thunderous than they were with Williams.

“Smokethrower” is most definitely a rockin’ tune featuring rapid-fire verses halted by a more ponderous chorus. The varied pace adds drama.  The guitar tone is flawless, obliterating everything in its path. It’s a fitting swan song for Williams and a great showcase for the talents that remain in War Injun.

On the flipside, we have “Oceans of Despair” from Doomdogs, who  play somewhat more melodic doom, but their sound is definitely companionable with War Injun.  Vocalist Tomas "GG" Eriksson projects the lyrics with a kind of raw operatic flare over the powerful riffage provided by guitarist Christer Cuñat, whose solos are reminiscent of 70s blues-rock. The song features an extended funky jam segment with a fat bass and sizzling lead. The tune marches to its somewhat untimely end, whereupon the song seems to abruptly fall apart. Except for this unsettling conclusion, “Oceans of Despair” is a stellar response to War Injun’s call on the other side.  Former member Emil Rolof is featured on drums and Patrik Andersson Winberg on bass, who is set to perform his last gig with the group on April 6.

War Injun’s drummer explained that the split came about because the two groups were fans of each other music. “We actually hooked up with Doomdogs through Facebook,” Matson said. (Well, doesn’t everyone?)

The split has also become something of a promo for a Doomdogs/War Injun tour slated for late summer. And for War Injun, at least, it offered a means to transition into writing and recording with their new singer.

“We are nearly done with the writing process for our next full length ‘Left For The Wolves’, which will be released before August,” Matson said. “Jack is working out tremendously. War Injun is without a doubt, the most solid of a unit as it has ever been. We have already written five new songs with this lineup, and it’s the best music we have ever written. The 2013 Summer Tour starts August 2 in Fort Worth, Texas and continues through August 11 from Texas to Florida and then straight up the East Coast. Leather Nun America (California) are touring with us, and if all things work out, so will Doomdogs.” 

Check out both songs below.