Before occult bands became bogged down by formulas, they were arguably even stranger.
THERE was a time when I got into dark hard rock/heavy metal and it was taken really seriously. This was the late 1980s and it seemed like the “adult” world was awash with conservative politicians and televangelists telling you that evil rockers were using their music to turn you into the tools of Satan. I myself was more than a little intrigued and on at least a couple of occasions (listening to Black Sabbath’s eponymous song, Jethro Tull’s Sweet Dream and Kind Diamond’s Them in the dark with headphones on) managed to get a little spooked myself.
After a while, however, I began to realise just how cliched it all got and that most musicians who purported to flirt with the occult were merely following set formulas mixing in the themes and styles of horror movies with garden variety props like upside crucifixes and pentagrams. Long after I lost interest in the superstitions surrounding afterlife myths, I found myself investigating a few “occult” bands that were contemporaries of Black Sabbath. Strangest of all were the acoustic rantings of Comus and the Jinx Dawson-led Coven. Another group that really caught the ear was Black Widow.
Initially I wasn’t that impressed with Black Widow. Perhaps because it didn’t fit my expectations of “darkness”.
I had heard about the first album Sacrifice a good decade before I got my hands on it, and was expecting a masterful work ... but what I found appeared to be a mediocre collection of occult-themed songs set to jazz-rock backing. That’s right, there was scarcely a distorted metal guitar or otherworldly growled vocal in sight!
Formed out of the ashes of soul band Pesky Gee, Leicester, England-based Black Widow was the brainchild of guitarist Jim Gannon who wrote virtually all the songs. It initially seem to have gained acclaim for the live spectacle and occult themes of its shows (the band was apparently the first to do the onstage mock execution) rather than for actually playing and composing sterling music. Yet it was one of those groups that left behind a body of work that has improved over time.
The best tracks on its defining album Sacrifice are probably the opening pair of In Ancient Days and Way To Power which boast the strongest melodies and are good driving tracks, while another highlight is the closing title track (which does at least has some punchy flute and organ solos, from Clive Jones and Zoot Taylor respectively).
On other occasions, particularly during Seduction (the awful lounge jazz section had me gasping with incredulity) and Attack Of The Demon, the cabaret nature of Kip Trevor’s lead vocals are just too much, while the repeated chorus of Come To The Sabbat wastes a nice string melody and thus doesn’t do this album any favours, either. Still there was more than enough about Sacrifice to garner significant interest in the fertile late 1960s rock scene.
A follow-up eponymous album contained arresting epic pieces like Tears And Wine and The Story Of Creation. Another “cinematic” experience was the song Mary Clark. Unfortunately while bands like Sabbath and Alice Cooper were garnering massive airplay, Black Widow couldn’t quite translate their appeal into chart action. Internal rifts meant that by 1972 when Black Widow III came out, it was no longer quite the same band. In fact a lot of the music seemed to indicate that Black Widow was not interested in pursuing the sound and concepts that had gained them such infamy. Fans could at least rejoice that the 11-minute The Battle and folksy The Sun were further additions to Black Widow’s bag of treasures.
The band eventually imploded during the recording of its fourth album while a number of abortive reunions and reissue projects have re-kindled interest in the band. Black Widow is still little more than a fascinating footnote in the formative years of “dark” music.
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