When Pagan Altar released their self-titled demo in 1982, it wasn’t just their music that intrigued the few people who were paying attention. “Pagan Altar are actual practicing Satanists,” declared US zine Whiplash when reviewing Pagan Altar – the mysterious London quartet’s first appearance in the international metal press, and one of the last for many years.
As with several other bands in the early 80s, the devoutness of Pagan Altar’s diabolism may have been somewhat sensationalised, but on the subject of their shadowy, mystical, Sabbath-school proto-doom metal, Whiplash’s spot-on assessment still stands up: “The band does produce a strange feeling of dread in their music... These guys sound like they really want your soul!”
