Returned from the shadows with tales of occult and folken fascination the legendary oaken drift of London, England-borne heavy/doom metal band PAGAN ALTAR manifests an unexpected return with this fifth full-length album. ‘Never Quite Dead‘ exists in purgatorial state, unsure if it will be a transitional moment to tarry on with or a final headstone which hangs thick with its mournful spiritus. Though the feeling that their head wizard is gone still rings in mind this latest clutch of songs is nonetheless worthy of the band’s humble history as storytellers and underground heavy rock and proto-doom die hards willing to press on against the odds.

Pagan Altar were long dead before their practical history began in the late 90’s having formed more officially around 1978 and ceased activity by 1985, holding a bank of several album’s worth of songs within their tomb. Though they’d shopped around a storied NWOBHM-era demo circa ’82, a self-titled cassette that now goes more officially as ‘Judgement of the Dead‘, it wasn’t until the 90’s era bootlegs had become a high-priced prospect that they’d taken the cue and put that first demo out under another name (the more infamous ‘Volume 1‘). Their style on that first public recording was both a Sabbath groove and a pub-rocker depending on the song even incorporating some folk rock in the periphery. In hindsight, yes, they were technically one of few well-documented bands from that era playing something akin to doom metal.

For anyone prone to delve back into the history of underground music, specifically those chasing doom metal to its event horizon, this band’s sound should serve a true gem. Alongside many other folks I’d discovered this band around the 2004 via release of ‘The Time Lord‘ EP, which contained some of the band’s first-year recordings (’78-’79), and their “second” full-length album (‘Lords of Hypocrisy‘, 2004) which’d been a very different, far more eclectic sound than the simpler sombre doom-rock of ‘Judgement of the Dead‘ (which’d been re-released a year later). This post-2004 “re-recorded” era of Pagan Altar did not ignore its own momentum and soon put out probably their best and most eclectic and accomplished heavy metal release ‘Mythical & Magical‘ (2006), a record I’d paid quite a bit more attention to when it’d been remastered and reissued ~2013. As a fan I’ve always been split between that third LP and their first demo as favorites.

Ten years later ‘The Room of Shadows‘ (2017) was set to be the official swan song for Pagan Altar, a glowing exodus that’d come a couple of years beyond the passing of original vocalist Terry Jones. It was a fine album, far more sombre and folken in its storytelling. ‘Never Quite Dead‘ was the original title for those recordings but this new album features newer material, some or all of it featuring lyrics and contributions from the late Jones. In the process of playing farewell shows and promoting that album then-Magic Circle vocalist Brendan Radigan was onboarded and the band eventually continued on. There isn’t a more fitting pick for a replacement vocalist in terms of tone, range and I think I’d even said he was a dead ringer for Jones on parts of ‘Departed Souls‘ in review. That said longtime fans may be unsure of ‘Never Quite Dead‘ upfront, as I was, per the upbeat early NWOBHM stamp of opener “Saints and Sinners“, which feels like it was delivered with a smile and rhythmically similar to Quartz‘ more upbeat late 70’s start. It isn’t exactly a continuation of the dramatic tone of the previous album walking in, we’ll get there soon enough, but it is a rousing and memorable introduction.

We get the sombre, dramatic rouse one’d expect from Pagan Altar of olde with “Liston Church” a bluesy drift that smacks of their proto-doom muse more than anything else and carries some of the best lyrics on the album for my own taste. From there my interest in the album begins to wane via the two part “Madam m’Rachel” where I’d appreciated a story being told but the sombre first part felt like a drain on the already uneven energy put into Side A‘; The second half of ‘Never Quite Dead‘ is generally more to my own taste with “The Dead’s Last March” being the major highlight of the album, making better use of Radigan‘s talent for escalating his register in phrase and of course pulling more traditional doom metal rhythms into view. This side of the band (“Liston Church”, “Well of Despair”, etc.) recalls something like peak Candlemass from my point of view and ends up being the main feature of this release for my own taste.

All the pieces fit, Radigan does a fine job here despite being louder and more precise than his predecessor and these folks still have folken, bluesy riffs with minimal Sabbath groove applied to charm with. ‘Never Quite Dead‘ certainly sounds like a Pagan Altar album and touches upon a broader and more succinct ouevre than many of their prior records. With that said this time around the cumulative result is fairly average for my own taste, much as I did enjoy one or two of the songs here the overall impact of this album was next to nil after a ~couple months spent listening intently. This wasn’t a matter of expectations not being met, there were literally no expectations set on my part, but rather it just wasn’t a record I’d wanted to hang out with despite several of the songs previewing particularly well. I’m not sure if this is a farewell record for the band or a sign of things to come but either way I’m glad they’re still around and making solid heavy metal music. A moderately high recommendation.

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