A Grove of Ashes and Aspens

Now Playing: Moonchariot by Elvenking

Spirituality is nothing new in the realm of music, not by a long shot. (See the Church controlling the composing and production of music for centuries across history for examples of this.) Where it becomes interesting is within the realm of modern pagan music and especially within the realm of pagan metal.

But what is pagan metal and how does it make sense? It actually makes complete sense, and I want you to hear me out here.

I know what the typical image of a pagan is: some tree lover who likes very specific kinds of abstract and floaty music, and maybe the stereotypical idea of what we consider to be medieval music. But as I’ve said many times before, that’s not really applicable to all, or even most pagans. But where is the intersection with metal? Because metal is all about electric guitars and hatred and anger. Right?

Consider, dear reader, that the stereotypical images of both pagans and metalheads are deeply flawed and only representative of a single portion of the respective groups in question. Most pagans are just regular people, as are most metalheads. Metal isn’t just electric guitars and hatred and anger and the devil. Paganism isn’t just loving trees and having a witchy aesthetic. Besides, Christian metal is a thing, so why is it so weird that pagan metal is a thing?

I’ve talked about Elvenking as an example of pagan metal before, because they have a wide variety of overall sounds, all of which contribute to their pagan metal sound. But pagan metal isn’t as easily describable as something like folk metal or symphonic metal stylistically. Pagan metal is more of a lyrical genre rather than a stylistic genre. It describes metal that focuses on pagan themes, like mythology or Vikings or, in the case of Elvenking and Týr, stories and aspects of the individual pagan experience within the mundane. As a result, it tends to encompass bands who do a lot of different things stylistically.

Pagan metal existing as a lyrical genre means that bands like Elvenking (folk/power metal) will get lumped in with bands like Primordial (extreme/black metal).  Many pagan metal bands also dabble in folk metal to some extent, since mythology and folklore topics in the lyrics tend to mesh very nicely with the nature of folk metal. (When including pagan themes in metal, it need not be folk metal, it just so happens to commonly be so, from what I’ve seen.)

There are plenty of reasons for doing this, between honouring specific deities, individual stories of UPG, honouring nature and the land and associated spirits, focusing on specific emotions surrounding personal practice, and so many more. The reasons for making pagan metal are as varied as the number of people who make pagan metal, and only get more intricate and numerous as more people do it.

Pagan metal is a good example of connecting with one’s spirituality through the arts, a topic on which I have written before. (I will likely continue to write on it as I start to do more of it and continue listening to bands like Elvenking and Týr, but that’s for future posts.) It’s an art form that just goes to show how varied pagans are as a group, and how metalheads aren’t all just fire and death and the devil. There is overlap and nuance to these things, and this is important to consider when looking at these groups.