Spotlight on Pagan Music
A weekly feature highlighting the best music from Pagan, Pagan – influenced, and occult artists. You can hear many of these artists on my weekly radio show and podcast, or you can check out the annual “Darker Shade of Pagan” music special available for download online.
HEKATE
Hekate
Band Bio:
Hekate was formed in 1993, for the time being as an atonal-project. Hekates first ever performance was in the spring of the same year during an art exhibition at an advanced technical college in Koblenz. Soon there after, a fusion of several stylistic elements into a symbiosis emerged from the strong naturalistic-folkloric relation of each band-member. The music is mainlybased on the use of classical percussions like kettle drums, timpanis, snare- and bass drums and chinese gongs combined with acoustic guitars and middle-aged instruments as e.g. hurdy gurdy. The musical background is completed by use of modern synthesizers. The lyrics are presented by alternating male and female singing in German, English and French- and other tongues such as Latin, Jidish or Middle-Age-German.
Song download:
Sample clip of “Morgane Le Fay”
Sample clip of “Europa”
Sample clip of “Dance of Taurus”
Sample clip of “Ocean Blue”
Hekate’s song “L’Ivresse” appears on the 5th annual “Darker Shade of Pagan” special available for download, here.
Reviews:
“Hekate’s latest release “Goddess” is no exception to the bands well established reputation. Once again Hekate has emerged from dormancy with a recording that has exceeded all expectations. Goddess is every bit as ambitious as the simple title co notates. In a musical genre fixated on archaic Northern European spiritual traditions Hekate is breaking the mold by extending the exploration of the sacred into broader fields of reference. “Goddess” successfully embodies references to cultures as diverse as the Greeks and Romans to the lost gods of the ancient Egyptians. Though such a wide range of influence and inspiration may appear to some to be impregnated with stale “new-age” sympathies Hekate has seamlessly integrated these numerous ancient references of culture and spirituality into a potent and mind blowing journey through time.” – Heathen Harvest
“The music is sort of a mixture of neo-folk and medieval styles, completed with powerful drumming and use of electronics. Hekate consists of many members and a rich instrumentarium and with several vocalists (male and female), so that the songs are pretty varied. Sometimes it sounds bombastic, with martial drums and trumpets, sometimes fragile and beautiful with female voices and acoustic guitars and strings. Most lyrics are in German, but there are also texts in French, Yiddish and old German.” – Funprox
“What we have here is a lot of medieval influences, a bit of new age and a bunch of dark wave stuff. Beautiful female vocals, haunting drum sounds (paukes, timpani, march drums), whispering male vocals, modern sounding keyboards, mid-eastern atmospheres, different flutes and pipes and ?? well, and a LOT more!!! Hekate sounds like nobody else…” – Intromental Webzine
My Two Cents:
I have mixed reactions to the “neofolk” genre. I find a lot of it overly martial and pseudo-militaristic, often featuring some deep-voiced man intoning obscurely about the glory of Europe. But sometimes some truly unique gems emerge and make me take notice. Hekate is one of those bands. Aside from the band members actually being Pagan, they have crafted a delicate balance of feminine and masculine voices and break free of their genre’s constraints. Their latest CD “Goddess” may be their best work to date, and a good entry point to the band’s work.
Further Reading:
Interview with Hekate. Yet another interview with Hekate.
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