Coven - Witchcraft Destroys Minds And Reaps Souls (Hellfire Version) [LP]

Limited edition vinyl LP pressing. Real Gone Music has reissued a lot of "cult" albums over the years but of all the releases they've put out, this is the cult-iest of them all. That's because it's actually an occult album, the first record to bring Satanic themes to rock music. The upside down crosses, the "devil's horns" hand's signs that are commonplace with metal bands both past and present... they all started here. Coven even had a bassist named Oz Osborne... and the first track on the album was entitled "Black Sabbath," for heaven's sake! So there's no question that this 1969 album dealt with the devil first. Formed in the mid-'60s by then-teenaged vocalist "Jinx" Dawson, drummer Steve Ross, and the aforementioned Mr. Osborne in the mid-'60s, Coven began attracting attention while opening for bands like Alice Cooper, the MC5, and The Yardbirds both for it's dark psychedelic sound and for it's wholehearted, unrepentant embrace of sex and Satan. During each performance, Dawson - whose vocals are somewhat reminiscent of Grace Slick with a snarl - would extend her fingers in the now-familiar devil's horns gesture while a roadie would be hung on an upside-down cross. The band caught the eye of Chicago-based producer Bill Traut, who had formed a label named Dunwich. Traut brought songwriter Jim Donlinger on board to contribute material, and ushered Coven into the studio to record Witchcraft.

2018 Real Gone

10/26/18