RARE BRITISH 1970 ORIG BLACK WIDOW SACRIFICE HARD HEAVY SINISTER PROG

	£		19
	$		25

RARE 1970 Holland FIRST PRESSING, DARK UNDERGROUND PROGRESSIVE COLLECTIBLE

BLACK WIDOW: SACRIFICE

RARE sought after 1970 Dutch first pressing in gatefold cover by these London hippie progressive group who came under attack for their overt satanic themes around the same time as Black Sabbath...here, their scarce first album, Sacrifice...

Once upon a time in Leicester, England, there were seven young musicians; Kay Garrett (vocals), Kip Trevor (vocals, guitar & harmonica), Jess "Zoot" Taylor (organ & piano), Jim Gannon (guitar & vocals), Clive Jones (sax & flute), Bob Bond (bass guitar) & Clive Box (drums & percussion). In the year 1966, they formed the band Pesky Gee!. The band made one album for "Pye", "Exclamation Mark" (1969), before reforming without Garret as Black Widow in 1970. CBS become the bands new label. The group played a wild orgiastic, black mass oriented rock, much in the footstep of their colleagues Black Sabbath.

BLACK WIDOW had a small amount of success with the track "Come To The Sabbat". The band had an extravagant mystic show (centred on the female demon Astaroth and choreographed by members of Leicester's Phoenix Theatre Company) and outrageous effects. The live show initially featured the mock sacrifice of a nude woman, which in itself, was enough to cause uproar in the press, and coupled with the fact that they were receiving advice on the art of witchcraft from Alex Sanders, the self professed "King Of The Witches" - the Sunday tabloids had a field day!

Early concerts were attended by priests waving crosses in the air, warning those attending to the inherent dangers of witchcraft and Black Widow. Religious fanatics would preach at the waiting queues urged on by journalists looking for a story. The news writer Paul Green said that the Black Widow music and stage show was not an example of Satanism, but more an example of Satanic bad taste.
The debut album reached the number 32 in the U.K. charts. The group toured throughout Europe and appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival of 1969 and 1970.

Black Widow‘s Sacrifice is a charming album. The Satanic and occult lyrical themes saturate every track on the album like a thick coat of delicious, sinful honey. Often times Black Widow present themselves as a more psychedelic or a progressive Raw Material.

Black Widow‘s debut pulls no punches with charismatic songwriting. The leads on every track are rich and simply outstanding. The mix is naturally warm and shows great restraint with fantastic listening cues – no shortage of highlights with no moments that drag. Twisting and churning, every song morphs with the leads making the album feel extremely dynamic and alive. Parts of some songs are melodically helmed by the hammond organ, at other times by wind instrumentation (is that a sax?), and at other times the guitar. “Come to the Sabbat” was a popular single off this LP in the early 70s and features a chanted chorus that cresendos in an explosion of strings and whistling.

The album is not particularly thick or heavy in a modern sense at all although some of the more upbeat songs are hard rock-esque (“Way to Power” or “Attack of the Demon“). With a slight objection at labeling this album a heavy prog album at all as heavy prog bands from the same era (High Tide, Uriah Heep, The Flow, Tempest, Warhorse) are actually heavy in the traditional sense, however the album is considerably heavy in production, atmosphere, and lyrical themes. There is quite an eclectic mix of progressive mentalities in the various instruments utilized in the album, often times playing with 3 or 4 non standard rock items in a single track (“Conjuration” or “Sacrifice“). At times it is quite jazzy like instrumental interlude in “Seduction.” There is definitely a strong psychedelic streak in the album as displayed in the creepy intro to “Attack of the Demon” or the album opener “In Ancient Days.”

If you’re just getting into occult rock and have no taste for classic psychedelic or progressive rock with that classic 1970s warmth then Black Widow‘s Sacrifice might be a tad too eccentric. However the songwriting is extremely strong and the album could convert anyone with good taste in music.

- Jim Gannon / lead guitar, vibes, Spanish guitar
- Zoot Taylor / organ, piano
- Kip Trevor / vocals
- Clive Jones / flute, reeds
- Bob Bond / bass guitar
- Clive Box / drums & percussion

In Ancient Days... (7:40)
Way To Power... (3:58)
Come To The Sabbat...(4:56)
Conjuration... (5:45)
Seduction... (5:38)
Attack Of The Demon... (5:37)
Sacrifice... (11:10)

Vinyl : NM

Laminated fold out sleeve : EX      

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