COVEN - Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls

In the last few years I have noticed a pretty clear tendency for bands to go return to the seventies in sound, while the lyrics stick to the current subjects. This has given us quite a few interesting bands such as Ghost, Witchcraft, The Devil’s Blood, Blood Ceremony, Graveyard and so on. Each of them has its own unique sound, while the influence of their predecessors is clear. Probably many Ghost listeners are under the impressions that they’re the only ones combining hippie sounds with satanic imagery. Well, they’re not.

In 1969 Coven released Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls. It is worth mentioning that this album even precedes the Black Sabbath debut. The music sounds rather de Woodstock-ish, while a bit darker. However, what set Coven apart from most bands of their generation were their lyrics. They did not sing about love and peace and other acid-soaked stuff. Coven songs were, to put it briefly, about the devil. The satanic beliefs of Jinx Dawson, Oz (not Ozzy) Osbourne and Steve Ross are clearly found in the band’s lyrics. As a matter of fact, Coven even recorded an incantation (composed by the band producer, Bill Traut) at the end of the album, called Black Mass.

As an interesting fact, there are quite a few similarities between Witchcraft… and Black Sabbath. Both albums contain tracks called Black Sabbath and Evil Woman. Not to mention the two Oz’s in the bands. Coven had a huge influence in metal (probably even more in extreme metal than traditional metal). They were the first to use “the sign of the horns” (yes, before Dio). They were also the first band to decorate their show with inverted crosses. This stuff is pretty commonplace in modern day metal, but at the time it didn’t exactly bring the best publicity for Coven. The band was even associated with Charles Mansons/Helter Skelter because of their music and imagery. Their debut album was withdrawn from the market shortly after its release because the recording label did not want the negative publicity.

Musically, the album has some good songwriting and, well, lyrics that practically made history. Songs like White Witch of Rose Hall, Choke, Thirst, Die, Coven in Charing Cross are not to be missed. Witchcraft… is an underground masterpiece and even though Black Sabbath got way ahead of Coven, Jinx Dawson & Co. remain the ones who got the Prince of Darkness into music.
 

Matei Gheorghe Nota: 10