Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or a family of religions which is influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Africa and the Near East. Although they share similarities, contemporary pagan movements are diverse and as a result, they do not share a single set of beliefs, practices, or texts. Scholars of religion often characterise these traditions as new religious movements. Some academics who study the phenomenon treat it as a movement that is divided into different religions while others characterize it as a single religion of which different pagan faiths are denominations.
Viking metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by a lyrical and thematic focus on Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the Viking Age. Viking metal is quite diverse as a musical style, to the point where some consider it more a cross-genre term than a genre, but it is typically seen as black metal with influences from Nordic folk music. Common traits include a slow-paced and heavy riffing style, anthemic choruses, use of both sung and harsh vocals, a reliance on folk instrumentation, and often the use of keyboards for atmospheric effect.
Sol Invictus are a British neofolk band formed by Tony Wakeford in 1987. Wakeford has been the sole constant member of the group since its inception, although numerous musicians have contributed and collaborated with him under the Sol Invictus name over the years.
Der Blutharsch was an Austrian martial industrial, neofolk and psychedelic rock project created in 1996 by Albin Julius.
David Tibet is an English poet and artist who founded the music group Current 93, of which he is the only full-time member.
Ian Read is an English neofolk and traditional folk musician, and occultist active within chaos magic and Germanic mysticism circles.
The Odinic Rite (OR) is a reconstructionist religious organisation named after the god Odin. It conceives itself as a "folkish" Heathen movement concerned with Germanic paganism, mythology, folklore, and runes. As a white supremacist organization, the Odinic Rite limits membership to white individuals, holding the belief in Heathenry as the ancestral religion of the Indo-European race.
Pagan rock is a genre of rock music created by adherents of neopagan traditions. It emerged as a distinct genre from gothic rock in the 1980s. Bands in this genre will often use pagan and occult imagery and deal with pagan themes. In some cases the definition is stretched to include rock bands embraced by modern Pagans.
Martial industrial is a syncretic offshoot of industrial music characterized by noise, dark ambient atmospheres, neofolk melodies, dark wave tunes and neoclassical orchestrations as well as the incorporation of audio from military marches, historical speeches and political, apolitical or metapolitical lyrics. Unlike other post-industrial genres, martial industrial is typically interested more in a particular worldview or philosophy than pure experimentalism.
Heathenry, also termed Heathenism, contemporary Germanic Paganism, or Germanic Neopaganism, is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religious studies classify it as a new religious movement. Developed in Europe during the early 20th century, its practitioners model it on the pre-Christian religions adhered to by the Germanic peoples of the Iron Age and Early Middle Ages. In an attempt to reconstruct these past belief systems, Heathenry uses surviving historical, archaeological, and folkloric evidence as a basis, although approaches to this material vary considerably.
Tronus Abyss is a cult "electro-apocalyptic" band from Italy. They started out in 1997 with a quite plain symphonic black metal album, but in 1999 they recorded "Rotten Dark", an album crossing the boundaries of extreme music and redefining new styles. Rotten Dark was a mix of powerful black metal, industrial, medieval profane music, neoclassical and apocalyptic-folk.
Of the Wand & the Moon is the neofolk/experimental project of Danish musician Kim Larsen and various guest contributors.
Troy Southgate is a British far-right political activist and a self-described national-anarchist. He has been affiliated with far-right and fascist groups, such as National Front and International Third Position. He co-created the think tank New Right alongside Jonathan Bowden and is the founder and editor-in-chief of Black Front Press. Southgate's movement has been described as working to "exploit a burgeoning counter culture of industrial heavy metal music, paganism, esotericism, occultism and Satanism that, it believes, holds the key to the spiritual reinvigoration of western society ready for an essentially Evolian revolt against the culturally and racially enervating forces of American global capitalism."
Elizabeth Hooijschuur, known by her pen name Freya Aswynn, is a Dutch writer and musician, primarily known for her activities related to modern paganism in the United Kingdom. She was an early exponent of a form of Germanic neopaganism centred on women and has influenced the international modern pagan community through her book Leaves of Yggdrasil. Aswynn was involved in the early neofolk music scene in London in the 1980s, when several musicians of the genre lived in her house in Tufnell Park.
Death in June are a neofolk group led by English musician Douglas P.. The band was originally formed in the United Kingdom in 1981 as a trio. However, after the other members left in 1984 and 1985 to work on other projects, the group became the work of Douglas P. and various collaborators. Over the band's four decades of existence, they have made numerous shifts in style and presentation, resulting in an overall shift from initial post-punk and Industrial music influence to a more acoustic and folk music-oriented approach. Douglas P.'s influence was instrumental in sparking neofolk, of which his music has subsequently become a part.
Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America is a folkloric and anthropological study of the Wiccan and wider Pagan community in the United States. It was written by the American anthropologist and folklorist Sabina Magliocco of California State University, Northridge and first published in 2004 by the University of Pennsylvania Press. It was released as a part of a series of academic books titled 'Contemporary Ethnography', edited by the anthropologists Kirin Narayan of the University of Wisconsin and Paul Stoller of West Chester University.
Allerseelen is the musical project of the Austrian musician Gerhard Petak, also known as Kadmon and Gerhard Hallstatt. Briefly a group in 1987, it has been a solo project since 1989; Petak collaborates with groups for performances. His music is experimental, sometimes post-industrial and military pop and has often fallen into the neo-folk and pagan rock categories. He is known for his use of lyrics by Nazi authors, and has also written admiringly of Nazi cultural figures and collaborated with right-wing extremist musicians.
Modern pagan music or neopagan music is music created for or influenced by modern Paganism. Music produced in the interwar period include efforts from the Latvian Dievturība movement and the Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt. The counterculture of the 1960s established British folk revival and world music as influences for American neopagan music. Second-wave feminism created women's music which includes influences from feminist versions of neopaganism. The United States also produced Moondog, a Norse neopagan street musician and composer. The postwar neopagan organisations Ásatrúarfélagið in Iceland and Romuva in Lithuania have been led by musicians.
Island is a studio album by HÖH and Current 93, released in November 1991 through Durtro. It differs from much of Current 93's output due to its prominent use of synthesizers and ambient music. Some of the compositions also appear on HÖH's soundtrack for the film Children of Nature. The CD release of Island includes humorous bonus tracks.
