Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls

Despite the cosmic-level coincidences of a song called “Black Sabbath” and a bassist credited as Oz Osborne, Coven didn’t actually beat Black Sabbath to inventing metal. “Pact with Lucifer” and “Wicked Woman” sound like Jefferson Airplane but with words cribbed from occult books as authentic as the Satanic Mass that closes the record (that is to say, not very). Credit where credit is due, though – they got to the shtick first. And they did it well! Pulled from the shelves at the time, their sacrilegious psychedelic rock would influence acts like The Devil’s Blood, Blood Ceremony, and Lucifer in the coming millennium.