A Grove of Ashes and Aspens

  • Hard Rock and Jokers: New Hell in the Club Album

    Now Playing: The Devil Won’t Forgive Me by Hell in the Club And just like that, we have another new album that dropped from an Italian metal band. Don’t you worry, we’ll talk about it. But first, “who the hell (heh) are these people?” you may be asking yourself. Fear not, for I am here…

  • Pagan Metal Drag? What?

    Now Playing: The Horned Ghost and the Sorcerer by Elvenking So in the realm of pagan art, we see music and visual arts (painting and crafting) all the time, but what about things like drag? Because drag is art, right? Yeah, it actually makes more sense than one would initially expect. If you can put…

  • 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…