A Grove of Ashes and Aspens

Musings of a Queer Pagan

  • Superiority in Metal: Recognition, Avoidance, and Overcoming

    Now Playing: Chronicle of a Frozen Era by Elvenking So something that comes up sometimes in metal spaces, especially online, is gatekeeping and a certain air of superiority about the kinds of metal one listens to. I’m not immune to this, I’ve been that uptight bitch about the metal I listen to, though I try…

  • Powerfolk and Other Melody Centric Metal and their Classical (ish) Influences

    Now Playing: Neverending Nights by Elvenking “But wait, there’s melody centric metal? That’s a thing? I thought metal was all just really angry screaming and growling and walls of noise!” I hear you cry. And yes, a lot of metal is just screaming and growling and walls of noise. But there’s a lot more to…

  • Music and Religion: Performance of Christian Music as a Pagan

    Now Playing: Midnight Madonna by Powerwolf Currently, I sing in a community choir. As with most community choirs, this choir rehearses and performs in a church as a way to reduce expenses, since rehearsal spaces can get quite expensive, especially for larger groups. Many of the pieces we perform are also based around Christian themes…

  • A Year of Metal

    Now Playing: Son of a Wolf by Powerwolf 2023 was a solid year for power metal. New albums from Elvenking, Twilight Force, Bloodbound, and Powerwolf (as well as a live album from Freedom Call), several EPs and singles from Sabaton, Rhapsody of Fire, and DragonForce, with album announcements set for next year from several of…

  • Music Theory: Necessary or Obsolete?

    Now Playing: Hydra by Twilight Force As a longtime musician, something my new musician friends sometimes ask me is some variation of “do I need music theory to be a good musician?” This is also a question that isn’t uncommon among musicians in general. My answer, and opinion, is always something along the lines of…