A Grove of Ashes and Aspens

  • So What Am I Doing Now?

    Now Playing: Rapture by Elvenking So it’s October, and the first month of the new academic year has come and gone here in Canada. But what does that mean for me? Well, a couple of things. I’m taking a year or so off from university (it’s complicated), and instead going to a college here in…

  • Symphonic Metal Be Like: My Thoughts on the New Blackbriar Album

    Now Playing: Bluebeard’s Chamber by Blackbriar Okay, so Blackbriar is alternative metal, but they have symphonic elements. They still count as symphonic metal. (I know Metal Archives calls them pop in their rules, but that’s bullshit as far as I’m concerned.) For those who aren’t familiar, Blackbriar is a symphonic alt/gothic metal band from the…

  • Deities and their Genders: Hard Mythic Truth, or Something More?

    Now Playing: The Ghosting by Elvenking So as a baseline, most pagans will generally agree that gender is weird. I mean, just look at the average pagan gathering, each one I’ve ever seen has been two berries short of a fruit basket. But what does that actually mean in terms of our experiences and UPGs…

  • Am I Truly Pagan Enough? Imposter Syndrome in Pagan Practice

    Now Playing: Heavy is the Crown of Bone by Crypt Sermon So recently, a friend of mine made a comment that I found interesting and, for better or worse, kind of relatable. The sentiment was that they don’t feel “pagan enough,” and that got me thinking: what does it really mean to be “pagan enough?”…

  • Another New Album: Moonlight Haze Album “Beyond”

    Now Playing: Beyond by Moonlight Haze So it’s no secret that I enjoy symphonic power metal. I am the kind of person who will happily commit to the bit, and that is the essence of this particular subgenre of metal, a fact which warms my soul. Now, Moonlight Haze in particular is a band I…

  • Just Local Band Things: Lycanthro’s New Album “Remnants of Rapture”

    Now Playing: Iris by Lycanthro As many metalheads tend to do, I enjoy supporting small and local bands. It keeps a place’s culture going and it gives a certain solidarity in the scene and between musicians. (This is something we could always have more of, all the petty in-fighting gets tiring sometimes.) Now, in my…

  • Reading the Runes: Pagan Storytelling in a Christian World

    Now Playing: Reader of the Runes – Book II by Elvenking Stories have been a part of human culture since time immemorial, and nowhere is that more clear than in the realm of religion. Every religion has their own stories, telling of both gods and mortal heroes, as they attempt to make sense of the…

  • Where have I been?

    Now Playing: Reader of the Runes – Book II by Elvenking Hi. It’s been a minute. Walk with me. (Metaphorically.) So where have I been? Why did posts just kinda stop for like two and a half months? Are posts going to continue? To answer those questions, my offline life got a bit chaotic, I…

  • A New Band Emerges: Hans & Valter Debut Album

    Now Playing: The Endless Night by Hans & Valter So I enjoy some good cheesy symphonic power metal. (I am, after all, a Twilight Force fan.) However, I’m also a low baritone singer. So when I was informed (via this Reddit comment and this further reply some months later) that there was a new Twilight…

  • The End of a Trilogy: Reader of the Runes – Luna

    Now Playing: Luna by Elvenking Ok, so quick preface, I have already listened to the three singles an unholy number of times before the album dropped, and this is being written after listening to the album all the way through about a dozen times. (I’m just like that, and the album is just that worth…