Review Summary: There’s a difference between mostly dead and all dead
The circumstances behind Pagan Altar’s fifth album make for an interesting hodgepodge. Much like 2017’s The Room Or Shadows, Never Quite Dead consists of material that the group had been workshopping prior to lead singer Terry Jones’s tragic passing in 2015 with many songs featuring his lyrics and having been conceived as far back as the late seventies. This is topped off with the album’s biggest wild card: Sumerlands/ex-Magic Circle vocalist Brendan Radigan finally making his official studio debut with the band after having served as their live singer since 2017.
Terry having been Pagan Altar’s defining feature since the beginning makes it easy to question how this new configuration will live up to his legacy, but Radigan does a pretty good job channeling his spirit (Literally or figuratively? You decide). Terry’s obvious influence allows him to smoothly slip into the role with a similarly nasally warble, perhaps not quite hitting the same storyteller flair but still performing with the confident howls that reflect his experience across multiple projects. Of course, Terry was only half of the equation as his son Alan Jones’s guitar playing is just as integral to their identity, continuing to shape the material with his signature mix of gloomy riffs and rustic overcast.
It’s also neat to see how the album still seems to follow an identifiable trajectory despite the archival songwriting method raising cohesion concerns as the hard rock and folk elements from The Room of Shadows are even more pronounced here. I must admit that “Saints and Sinners” can feel out of character with its bursts of jovial flamboyance unlike any other Pagan Altar opener, but the catchy chorus and bouncy pace come through once you get used to it. Fortunately it isn’t too long before they settle into the expected spooky doom with “Liston Church” putting in a steady trot and “The Lost Well” offers the most pounding riff set.
There’s quite a bit of tug o’war between dynamics throughout the album. The two-part “Madame M’Rachel” makes for the most blatant example with the first part’s psych-flavored contemplation easing into the second part’s ghostly drive. The closing “Kismet” is another stunning showcase that plays like the polar opposite of “After Forever” off the previous outing, contrasting that song’s two-minute strums with a full nine-minute excursion. It proves to be its own sort of poignant with emotional acoustic verses that give way to heavy slow burns with plenty of wailing guitars.
Much like Legions of Doom having to pick up the pieces from The Skull, it can be tricky to reconcile Pagan Altar without Terry Jones. Never Quite Dead could’ve been similarly confused as the simultaneous true last testament and signaling way forward. Fortunately the band ultimately threads the needle tastefully, even if it takes some getting used to. Terry’s personality can still be felt in the compositions while the remaining musicians assert their own contributions and Radigan’s demeanor is fitting while feeling too safe. The Room of Shadows was the best final chapter for Pagan Altar but I can’t argue too much with a really good addendum.
