Pagan Altar - Mythical & Magical (2006)^{Release ID: 1907}

I am fairly familiar with Pagan Altar's earlier material, specifically the debut which dates from 1982, their Time Lord EP which dates from '78/'79 and also their 2004 album Lords of Hypocrisy. The first two are interesting early examples of the metamorphisis from heavy metal to traditional doom metal that was beginning to take place in the late seventies and early eighties, similar to Bedemon/Pentagram or Witchfinder General material from the same era. I wasn't so much taken with the later album however and found it quite lacklustre and disappointing.

So, my first impressions of 2006's Mythical & Magical are far more positive, I must say. It is a much more interesting release with it's quite wide range of influences, whilst still sounding consistent. The biggest issue for a lot of fans is likely to be Terry Jones' nasal and fairly high-pitched vocal delivery which may not be to everyone's taste, but if you are OK with King Diamond and Cirith Ungol you should be fine. Talking of Cirith Ungol, there are certainly elements employed by the Californian epic metallers to be found here on Mythical & Magical, albeit a little more restrained. Just to be clear though, there is very little to no doom metal present on M&M, other than in the very loosest sense. This is predominantly (epic) trad metal with plenty of seventies hard rock influence. There is even some folk-prog featured with the enjoyable, The Crowman, which wouldn't sound at all out of place on Jethro Tull's fantastic 1977 Songs from the Wood album. Make no mistake though, this is principally a traditional heavy metal album and Pagan Altar's emergence during the early NWOBHM is apparent both in the songwriting and the production of M&M with it's relatively raw and reedy sound.

For me the album is at it's strongest when they go all-in on the more epic side of things and allow Alan Jones to indulge his soaring solos, such as the Comfortably Numb-esque closing solo to The Sorcerer. I would suggest it is Alan's guitar work that raises this album to whatever heights it occupies as it is his riffing and soloing that completely dominates the album's standout moments.

I find it fascinating that Terry and Alan are father and son. I don't know of any other band with such a relationship - I really can't imagine being in a band with my old man and I certainly can't imagine it would have lasted long if I was!

I came to London's Pagan Altar relatively late in their career while putting together the Metal Academy podcast several years ago & immediately found them to be an interesting prospect. They were generally labelled as one the early exponents of the doom metal sound & I found their 1982 self-titled release to offer a fair bit of enjoyment even if there were a few flaws in their sound that I struggled with. They definitely weren't a pure doom outfit either as there was also a lot of traditional heavy metal in their sound as well as a touch of psychedelia. I later experimented with Pagan Altar's re-release of their early demos (entitled "The Time Lord" which was released in 2004) & found it's combination of doom metal & 70's hard/psychedelic rock to be just as entertaining. In fact, at that point I started to label Pagan Altar as the first true exponent of the traditional doom metal sound given that those recordings dated way back to 1978/79. And this brings us to "Mythical & Magical" (Pagan Altar's third full-length album released in 2006) which is a record that seems to receive universal praise from somewhat of a cult following within the underground metal scene & I was very keen to find out why.

The first thing I noticed about "Mythical & Magical" is the raw production which doesn't sound anything like the clinical modern-day metal production jobs we're so used to hearing these days. This one is thinner, dirtier & sounds very much like it could have surfaced from the early 80's NWOBHM scene which I would guess was something the band were likely aiming for. Much like Pagan Altar's earlier material, "Mythical & Magical" offers an interesting mix of styles & influences although it's well worth noting that there's very little doom metal on offer here. This time the band have opted for a sound that seems to draw upon the hard rock-driven NWOBHM sound of early Iron Maiden & Judas Priest, the more epic US power metal of Cirith Ungol & Manilla Road & the more organic & bluesy American hard rock of the 1970's with dashes of progressive rock, folk & even country tossed in for good measure. The high-pitched vocals of Terry Jones are instantly recognizable & are still just as repetitive as they ever were so if you've struggled with him previously then you shouldn't expect much respite here while the emotive & creative lead guitar work of his son Alan is as impressive as I remember it being & is the obvious highlight of the album with most of the tracklisting's peaks appearing at the crescendos of his lengthy solos. Things do get a bit cheesy at times, particularly during the guitar harmonies & the more epic sounding sections. I actually find the more expansive & progressive tracks to be the most consistently interesting (see "The Sorcerer" & "The Erl King") with the simpler hard rock numbers sounding pretty tame & boring in comparison. When Pagan Altar focus purely on a heavy metal sound they're generally very successful, particularly on opener "Samhein" which utilizes a dark Sabbath/Dio/Maiden gallop (there are several across the tracklisting actually) & builds in intensity gradually over time. I could definitely do without the  country rock number "The Crowman" as it sounds like it's been torn straight off US country radio while the short & fairly lightweight folk instrumental "Sharnie" doesn't add much to the album either in all honesty.

In the end I found "Mythical & Magical" to be a bit of a mixed bag with the tracklisting struggling for consistency. In fact, I'd suggest that I really only got enjoyment out of half the album. Thankfully the stronger material is classy enough to carry the dull moments which has resulted in the experience feeling fairly positive overall. I still can't say that I see what the big deal is with Pagan Altar though as this is once again a release that I've enjoyed while I listened to it but are unlikely to return to very often in the future. In terms of the band's discography, I'd suggest that this is probably the least appealing of the three Pagan Altar releases I've checked out to date & I suspect that's got a fair bit to do with the lack of doom metal on offer but there's not all that much between the three really. "Mythical & Magical" is a nostalgic ride through a period in rock/metal history that I was too young to fully take in & it serves that purpose quite well but I can't say that I see it as being in any way essential.

For fans of Cirith Ungol, Manilla Road & early Cauchemar.