Category: Blog
-
Of climbing…
I’d never climbed a mountain before. At the start of this year’s House of the Holy festival in Abtenau, Austria, a group of friends from the UK and Sweden decided that’s just what they were going to do, taking on the First Pass in the nearby Tennengebirge range. Accepting their kind invite and relishing the…
-
“It’s Only a Game, Isn’t it?”
Forging academic connections across the Pennines, last week took me to Manchester Metropolitan University for “Rituals of Play”. An international conference deftly combining gaming (in both digital and tabletop forms) with magick and the occult. This uniquely compelling focus for Manchester Game Centre’s annual Multiplatform symposium was ratified in conjunction with MMU’s Dark Arts Research…
-
Magna cum Loudly
As I take pause to commemorate another year round the sun, it is the right time to reveal just what I’ve been up to these past months. A secret to most, although obvious to many, l have returned to the hallowed halls of academia with a suitably Rock and Roll twist. Last year I began…
-
Onto the Next Chapter
With the festive baubles packed away and the first proper week of the year ahead, I prepare to get back on track to tackle the next twelve months. Many folk scoff at the concept of ‘starting afresh’ when the calendar flips over to January. That the New Year is just another day, or not even…
-
The Year that radicalised me
Although I knew there were challenges ahead as the world ticked into 2024, I had no expectation of the struggles that would manifest from week one. Launching straight into the Mentors tour as festive fireworks still echoed was hardly the wisest timing; but through grit, good humour, and the able help of the Witchfinder, we…
-
New Site, same as the Old Site
Despite lurking for years within the dark recesses of the internet, the HeathenStorm website has never been formally “announced” until now. Originally hacked together on a default WordPress install for tour promotion, it has been painstakingly recreated from scratch as a self-contained theme. Ensuring site upgrades and maintenance won’t cause as many headaches in the…
-
Cave of Wonder
With just over a week before Solstice fly out to Finland, and life outside the band likewise refusing to slow down; I take brief pause to reflect on a wonderful weekend in and around Balver Höhle. Prophecy Fest has always been a unique affair. Expertly curating an eclectic line-up of bands beyond the usual expectations…
-
Et in Arcadia ego
There is a place, one supposes, that calls to a simpler time. An age of pastoral greenery and unbridled passion. An idyllic ideal of the imagination, yearning to unravel through the concrete and tarmac trails of modernity. Arcadia, ever-present yet elusive, flickers in words and thought. An ancestral echo, barefoot in fecundity yet fragmented in…
-
Tears of the Mountain
I was not alone for Midsummer. It had been a hard year for many. Some had lost those dear, and others still had lost part of themselves. The abrasion of existence scratching away at the best of us, compelling cruelty and distrust through uncertain times. A common burden, one often and needlessly borne alone. Thoughts…
-
Into the Sixth Decade
With a full half-century now behind me, it seems appropriate to mark the moment and look ahead to what remains of the future. My birthdays always bring with them a twinge of melancholy, and this year has been no different. These past months have been weary to body and soul, stressful for many reasons obvious…
-
End of Vortex
It is sad in recent weeks to learn of the sudden and permanent closure of Wakefield’s Vortex Bar and Nightclub. Having put on a few shows in recent times, and playing there myself with Solstice, I was immediately impressed by the quality of both sound and staging. A professional, talented crew always worked hard with…
-
Battles on the brink of War
The dust has settled on the English leg of the DIOCLETIAN tour. Five dates of utter devastation across the country. Filling venues to capacity almost every night, with those who missed out eager for more. Ending the tour with the debut UK performance of ABRAXXUM was an inspired conclusion, but each and every show delivered…