Pagan Rock - History

History

The current conceptions of a "Pagan rock" genre lay with two musical strands: first with the idea of a modern music created by and for Neopagans as typified by the artist Gwydion Pendderwen, and secondly with the occult themes pursued by early industrial music pioneers Genesis P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV) and John Balance (Coil, Current 93). Unlike the previous dabbling with occult and romantic pre-Christian themes pursued by rock bands in the 1960s and early 1970s (as typified by artists such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Donovan), these new artists were earnest subscribers to Neopagan religion (in the case of Pendderwen), and ritual magick (in the case of P-Orridge and Balance Thee Temple ov Psychic Youth). The mixture of openly Neopagan lyrics, occultism, and the counter-cultural impulses of the post-punk era would create fertile soil for the inspiration of several bands that would form from the late 1980s forward.

One of the first bands to be labeled as "Pagan rock" by the press was the British gothic rock band Inkubus Sukkubus, founded in 1989, since then the label has been applied to a variety of bands who have pagan members or whose songs use pagan imagery and pagan themes. Since the appearance of Inkubus Sukkubus, many gothic rock and darkwave bands have emerged with Neopagan members and lyrical themes.