Biography
During the early '80s surge that saw most English heavy metal acts channel punk's D.I.Y. ethos and Motörhead's frenetic drive to ignite the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, London's Pagan Altar stood apart as a stylistic outlier. Alongside the few peers who shared their approach, notably Stourbridge's more prominent Witchfinder General, the band adhered closely to the deliberate pacing and gothic occult themes that had shaped heavy metal's earliest form through Black Sabbath. Consequently, Pagan Altar secured no recording contract across their eight-year run and later gained a reputation as one of their era's most prominent cult bands, only to receive belated attention and resume activity after 2000.
Formed in Brockley's southeast London neighborhood, siblings Terry on vocals and Alan Jones on guitar developed material and shaped the project's identity between 1978 and 1979, devoting comparable effort to thematic concepts as to the compositions. Eventually a five-piece ensemble performed regularly in local pubs and clubs, drawing on influences from Black Sabbath and Black Widow while incorporating stage elements such as hooded sorcerers' cloaks, pyrotechnics, coffins, skulls, black candles, and inverted crosses that rivaled the theatrical impact of fellow New Wave of British Heavy Metal provocateurs Demon. Over subsequent years the Jones brothers collaborated with a rotating cast of supporting players, among them bassist Glenn Robinson and drummer Mark Elliott, to realize their detailed vision; the stable rhythm section of Trevor Portch on bass and Israel-born John Mizrahi on percussion ultimately enabled the 1982 taping of several 1978–1981 compositions at the band's own Pagan Studios, following an unsuccessful 1980 single session at Abbey Road Studios.
Conceived as both a label submission and the core of a potential full-length, those recordings surfaced officially only in the mid-'90s after circulating for years through the tape-trading networks that sustained underground heavy metal prior to widespread internet access. In the meantime Pagan Altar endured further setbacks through numerous low-profile performances, self-made recordings, and repeated lineup shifts before disbanding in 1985. Following their rediscovery, comparable to the revival experienced by American doom cultists Pentagram, the Jones brothers assembled fresh personnel and issued further releases under the Pagan Altar name, among them the 2004 The Time Lord EP and The Lords of Hypocrisy LP plus 2006's Mythical & Magical. Because the surviving original tapes were judged below release quality or had deteriorated, the current incarnation re-recorded the material for these projects. In 2012 a configuration featuring Terry Jones on vocals, Dean Alexander on drums, Vince Hempstead on rhythm guitar, and William Gallagher on bass guitar commenced work on a new album at Jones' home studio. Terry Jones succumbed to cancer in 2015 after a year-long illness; billed as Pagan Altar's concluding effort, The Room of Shadows appeared on Svart Records in 2017.
Formed in Brockley's southeast London neighborhood, siblings Terry on vocals and Alan Jones on guitar developed material and shaped the project's identity between 1978 and 1979, devoting comparable effort to thematic concepts as to the compositions. Eventually a five-piece ensemble performed regularly in local pubs and clubs, drawing on influences from Black Sabbath and Black Widow while incorporating stage elements such as hooded sorcerers' cloaks, pyrotechnics, coffins, skulls, black candles, and inverted crosses that rivaled the theatrical impact of fellow New Wave of British Heavy Metal provocateurs Demon. Over subsequent years the Jones brothers collaborated with a rotating cast of supporting players, among them bassist Glenn Robinson and drummer Mark Elliott, to realize their detailed vision; the stable rhythm section of Trevor Portch on bass and Israel-born John Mizrahi on percussion ultimately enabled the 1982 taping of several 1978–1981 compositions at the band's own Pagan Studios, following an unsuccessful 1980 single session at Abbey Road Studios.
Conceived as both a label submission and the core of a potential full-length, those recordings surfaced officially only in the mid-'90s after circulating for years through the tape-trading networks that sustained underground heavy metal prior to widespread internet access. In the meantime Pagan Altar endured further setbacks through numerous low-profile performances, self-made recordings, and repeated lineup shifts before disbanding in 1985. Following their rediscovery, comparable to the revival experienced by American doom cultists Pentagram, the Jones brothers assembled fresh personnel and issued further releases under the Pagan Altar name, among them the 2004 The Time Lord EP and The Lords of Hypocrisy LP plus 2006's Mythical & Magical. Because the surviving original tapes were judged below release quality or had deteriorated, the current incarnation re-recorded the material for these projects. In 2012 a configuration featuring Terry Jones on vocals, Dean Alexander on drums, Vince Hempstead on rhythm guitar, and William Gallagher on bass guitar commenced work on a new album at Jones' home studio. Terry Jones succumbed to cancer in 2015 after a year-long illness; billed as Pagan Altar's concluding effort, The Room of Shadows appeared on Svart Records in 2017.
Albums
