| Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 15, 1969 | |||
| Recorded | February 1969 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 45:55 | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Producer | Bill Traut | |||
| Coven chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls (also known simply asWitchcraft) is the first album by the Americanrock bandCoven. The album's overtlyoccult andsatanic themes prompted removal from the market soon after its release in 1969. That summer coincided with public hysteria surrounding theManson family and rampant media speculation about occult influences onthe era's counterculture. The album's lyrical themes and visual design were influential on theoccult rock andheavy metal genres.
One of the songwriters, James Vincent, appears with the name "Jim Donlinger" on the album. Born James Vincent Dondelinger, he was not a member of the band (prior to this he was in the bandAorta), but was asked byBill Traut, Coven's producer (and founder ofDunwich Records, whose logo also appears on the album), to write, arrange and co-produce the album together with Traut. Vincent describes the event in negative terms, as a "bizarre album project":
At the time of its brief initial release, the album was panned by contemporary music critics and publications. Retrospectively, the album is regarded by some[who?] to be a classic of its genre, and in some ways set groundbreaking trends for later rock bands. The album marked the first appearance in music of thesign of the horns,inverted crosses, and the phrase"Hail Satan". Today, these are characteristics of theheavy metal genres.[7] According to rock journalistLester Bangs, "inEngland lie unskilled laborers likeBlack Sabbath, which was hyped as a rockin' ritual celebration of theSatanic mass, something like England's answer to Coven".[8] As a further coincidence, Coven's bass guitarist and co-writer (Michael Gregory Osborne) is credited as "Oz Osborne", and the opening track is "Black Sabbath".
Nirvana would play the album while driving between shows of their 1990 tour.[9]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Black Sabbath" | Donlinger | 3:32 |
| 2. | "White Witch of Rose Hall" | Donlinger | 3:08 |
| 3. | "Coven in Charing Cross" | Donlinger | 4:04 |
| 4. | "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" | Dawson, Ross, Wilkerson, Osborne | 4:41 |
| 5. | "Pact with Lucifer" | Donlinger, G. Donlinger, Wilkerson | 3:32 |
| 6. | "Choke, Thirst, Die" | Donlinger | 3:32 |
| 7. | "Wicked Woman" | Dawson, Ross, Wilkerson, Osborne | 3:01 |
| 8. | "Dignitaries of Hell" | Donlinger | 4:09 |
| 9. | "Portrait" | Dawson, Ross, Osborne | 2:37 |
| 10. | "Satanic Mass" | Traut | 13:19 |
| Total length: | 45:55 | ||
