Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls

by Katie Chilton

In 1969 the band Coven released one of the greatest albums to ever exist, called Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls. Obviously, this is an album I listen to around Halloween despite the fact that it was released in the summer. The title perfectly captures all that occurs in this album, after listening to it for the first time I would say that witchcraft not only destroyed my mind but also reaped my soul, not in a scary way, in a good way.

The band itself also has a great name for Halloween: Coven. The band consists of a lead female singer, Jinx Dawson, which is an odd thing for a rock band to have at this time, but despite this they were probably one of the first heavy metal bands, if not the first. But this album doesn’t have the same characteristics of heavy metal, as the music is a little softer sounding. But they do have heavy metal sounding lyrics (they were the first to really deeply involve the satanic theme in rock). The band was also the first to introduce the sign of the horns hand gesture to rock music because, I think, Jinx was in a cult (or something like that) that did this sign so she brought it into the band. However, Gene Simmons, of Kiss, tried to trademark it because he claimed he was the originator of it despite doing the wrong hand gesture (he was doing "I love you" in sign language, which obviously you can’t trademark). The moral of the story is that Kiss is lame and Coven rules. They were also the first to use the phrase "hail Satan" in music. Coven was fundamental for the creation of all heavy metal music we know now with just this one album.

Satanism and witchcraft create the theme for this album and makes it a fun Halloween listen. Personally, my favorites off the album are "Wicked Women," "Dignitaries of Hell," and "Pact with Lucifer." The songs on the album all musically sound similar, but I think these three are the most fun to listen to. I choose to not really look at this album in a scary way, since the themes present are Hell and death but in an enjoyable way. I find it almost funny. It’s kinda a camp album. It takes someone’s fear of satanism and makes you want to be a part of it because the song is just so enjoyable. Obviously, it did not do well in 1969; people were hysterical over the darkness presented in these songs and couldn't separate satanic themes from real-life murders (specifically the Manson family murders). This album might convince someone to worship Satan and practice witchcraft, but I don’t think it could ever lead to murder. Obviously, I cannot finish my post on Witchcraft without mentioning the final track on the album. After nine songs of dark themes and amazing instrumentals, the album finishes with a thirteen-minute "Satanic Mass." And you know what, it’s amazing. I think everyone just needs to go listen to it because I have no clue how to describe it. I’ll leave you with this: I command the forces of darkness to bestow their infernal power upon us. Save us, Lord Satan, from the treacherous and the violent.

  

Coven - "Satanic Mass"