Now this is a curiosity I had vaguely heard about but not actually heard until the day I came across a reissue at a Barcelona record shop. I knew they were supposedly the first occult rock band, resorting to "satanic" lyrics and imagery a few months ahead of Black Sabbath and Black Widow. But the more one reads about them, the more you get impressed by how far ahead Coven were; everything they did in the 60's was copied by all kinds of metal bands who passed it as novelty in the 70's and 80's, yet very few have heard of them. Take for example the sign of the horns 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘that's ever present in heavy metal: most people credit Ronnie James Dio for inventing it; KISS' Gene Simmons tried to copyright it, but what is that sign that the male Coven members do on this album's back cover? And what else do we see in the same photo? A table set for some kind of satanic ritual, with paraphernalia including an inverted cross... and I thought Black Sabbath (BS) were the first who used inverted crosses in rock! But wait, that's not all! You know how BS opened their first album with a song called "Black Sabbath"? Well, guess what's the first song here is called! Yep, it's "Black Sabbath"! Now were BS copying Coven? That's possible, though not very probable. American import records were notoriously hard to come by in the UK, and Coven didn't even get radio play in their native US, much less in England. As for using "Black Sabbath" for a song title: maybe it's a likely coincidence for two completely unrelated bands with interest in the occult (is it though?) but how about this one? Coven's bassist and founding member is called... Oz Osbourne! WTF? Not only he has the same last name with BS's singer, but almost the same nickname as well? And we know that Ozzy has had that nickname since grammar school! One starts to think that this is an elaborate prank, that somebody made up this band no-one had ever heard about, designed a kitschy retro-goth cover, and posted it online as a "lost" LP. I mean, I did something similar on April Fool's Day last year. But that's not the case here. Rare as original copies of Witchcraft... are, they can easily be procured online; this is a bona fide Mercury Records release, with catalogue number SR-61239. And, despite their relative obscurity, Coven struggled on for a few more years, and released two more albums before quitting in '76. Encouraged by her band's growing cult status, singer Jinx Dawson resurfaced a few years ago, to play some gigs and record a (self-released) album with a new version of Coven. She also presented photographic evidence of her doing the "devil's horns" sign onstage all the way back in '67 when Gene Simmons tried to trademark the gesture for himself. Contrary to most other female-fronted rock bands of the time, Dawson was more than just the lead vocalist. Even though the music was mostly written by others, she wrote the lyrics and created the band's image. The Satanic thing? That's all Jinx.
Apparently she grew up in an old and wealthy midwestern family many generations of which were involved with secret societies of the so-called Left Hand Path. Unlike bands like BS, Venom etc. who only used some Satanic trappings for atmosphere and shock value, Coven sound sincere enough - especially Jinx, whose passionate and powerful delivery is the band's greatest selling point. Probably influenced by Grace Slick and Janis Joplin but not as talented as them, she nevertheless indeed sings like a woman possessed 😂😂. The music is a, typical for its time, mix of hard rock and psychedelia - heavy guitar and traces of Alice Cooper, Mountain, Iron Butterfly, and Jefferson Airplane; especially in the vocal department, with very powerful female lead vocals but also good use of male/female harmonies. Some times (e.g. "Wicked Woman" ) there's a funky streak, others (e.g. "Black Sabbath") are in a more theatrical style which I would compare favorably with Rock Operas of the time like Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. The occasional chanting of black magic incantations is less typical, and so are the lyrics: where other groups dabbling in the occult (e.g. Led Zeppelin) inserted cryptic images and hidden messages, Coven are explicitly raw. Every song here deals openly with subjects like Satanist rituals, human sacrifice, demon summoning, and black magic. For one moment I thought that "The White Witch Of Rose Hall" was about a "good" witch practicing "white" magic but no, it's about the regular dark voodoo kind; it's only the witch's skin that's white, rather unexpectedly for 19th Century Jamaica. In the end she was murdered by the father of one of her victims. Based on a true story, no less. "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" (get the acronym?) is about a witch burned to death for seducing a lord using her magic powers. With the exception of these two songs, Lucifer triumphs everywhere else. The album closes with a 13-minute "Black Mass" concerning the initiation of a young woman into Satanism. It's laugh-out-loud ridiculous but executed in all seriousness. I'm inclined to think that it's as authentic as it gets because how can such a ceremony be anything other than ridiculous? Possibly the image of the inner gatefold with the singer spread naked on a ceremonial altar is supposed to recreate such an event. Purely musically this album is pleasant enough for classic rock fans without being anything special. But as a concept, it was way out there and way before its time. Coinciding with the Manson murders didn't help its commercial chances, but I can't imagine it being very successful in any time period. Decades later, a few metal bands acknowledged Coven's influence in the metal scene, leading to their rediscovery and the reissue of this LP, a unique and collectible artifact to say the least.
**** for Black Sabbath, The White Witch Of Rose Hall, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Wicked Woman, Dignitaries Of Hell
*** for Coven in Charing Cross, Pact With Lucifer, Choke Thirst Die, Portrait
** for Satanic Mass
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