VA - The Devil Rides In, Spellbinding Satanic Magick & The Rockult 1966-1974 [2024] (3 x CDs)

ROCKULT

VA - The Devil Rides In, Spellbinding Satanic Magick & The Rockult 1966-1974 [2024] (3 x CDs)

The late '60s and early '70s may have been the Age of Aquarius, but underneath the peace that ruled the planet and love that steered the stars, a dark side to the hippie fascination with the occult cut a shadowy swath across the era's music. Devil Rides In: Spellbinding Satanic Magick & the Rockult 1967-1974 captures that movement with three discs of songs that go much deeper than Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising" or the Crazy World of Arthur Brown's "Fire" (though that band's jazzy, relatively subdued "Devil's Grip" appears here). Devil Rides In kicks off with the glowering hard rock and fantastical prog that are the occult's natural familiars. A bellowing organ and Paul Rodgers' searing vocals ignite Free's "Seven Angels," setting the template for supernatural rock for years to come; "Magic Potion," a bad trip from 1969 courtesy of the Open Mind, sounds very much of its time, but its stygian riffs foreshadow Black Sabbath's imminent rise. On "White Hammer," Van Der Graaf Generator gets historical, alluding to the 15th century witchcraft and demonology treatise Malleus Maleficarum as they wage a war between good and evil fueled by their majestic keyboards. Not all of the songs deal in fire and brimstone: The white magic imagery on Argent's "Dance in the Smoke" suggests the moments just before hippie utopia goes wrong, a feeling echoed by The Wicker Man-like mood of Genesis' "One-Eyed Hound" and later by the rural harmonies and pedal steel of Mighty Baby's "Devil's Whisper." Disc two's focus on mod rock and psych-pop conjures visions of Old Scratch setting up shop in Swinging London with "Talk of the Devil," a piece of coolly stylish menace from Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, and "The Devil Rides Out," Icarus' groovy, flute-driven tribute to the Prince of Darkness. The Creation's "Nightmares" and the Move's "Night of Fear" are as spooky as they are playful, adding a welcome dose of trippy mischief to the set. Devil Rides In digs into wild-eyed folk (Jethro Tull's "The Witch's Promise," Comus' "The Bite"), hallucinatory jazz-pop (Manfred Mann Chapter Three's "Devil Woman") and diabolical funk (Curtis Knight & Zeus' "The Devil Made Me Do It") before closing with more infernal rock like the possessed wails of Jason Crest's "Black Mass," the theatrical rites of Black Widow's "Come to the Sabbat," and the strafing proto-metal of "Ride the Sky" by Lucifer's Friend, a band that makes the trumpet sound as devilish as the guitar. Like all Cherry Red compilations, Devil Rides In is lovingly curated and offers surprises even for listeners who think they know the era's music well. In this case, it's Italian prog-rockers Jacula, whose seance-like "Long Black Magic Night" plays like a miniature Dario Argento soundtrack and makes for the collection's most genuinely scary song. As it reflects the underbelly of flower child idealism, Devil Rides In: Spellbinding Satanic Magick & the Rockult 1967-1974's sampling of the surprisingly numerous kinds of occult rock casts a bewitching spell. (AllMuisc review by Heather Phares)

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Track lists

CD1

01 Atomic Rooster - Death Walks Behind You 7:29

02 Free - Seven Angels 5:01

03 Argent - Dance in the Smoke 6:17

04 Gun - Race with the Devil 3:33

05 Complex - Witch's Spell 3:38

06 Leviathan - Flames 4:45

07 Writing on the Wall - Lucifer Corpus 5:45

08 Genesis - One-Eyed Hound 2:31

09 Harsh Reality - Heaven and Hell 5:14

10 Van der Graaf Generator - White Hammer 8:13

11 Dr. Z - Evil Woman's Manly Child 4:39

12 Zior - Entrance of the Devil 2:10

13 Sam Gopal - The Dark Lord 3:13

14 Open Mind - Magic Potion 3:27

15 Elias Hulk - Nightmare 3:10

16 Warhorse - Ritual 4:53

CD2

01 Flying Machine - The Devil Has Possession of Your Soul 2:30

02 Creation - Nightmares 3:10

03 Easybeats - Heaven and Hell 2:41

04 Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera - Talk of the Devil 3:01

05 Fancy - Between the Devil and Me 3:13

06 Icarus - The Devil Rides Out 2:28

07 In-Be-Tweens - Girl Child, I am the Evil Witchman 2:18

08 Nirvana - Christopher Lucifer 4:07

09 Paul's Troubles - The Devil Jumps In 2:32

10 Tintern Abbey - Witchcraft 3:01

11 Move - Night of Fear 2:17

12 Curved Air - Screw 4:01

13 Jacula - Long Black Magic Night 6:18

14 Julian’s Treatment - The Black Tower 5:01

15 Man - Erotica 4:07

16 Sandie Shaw - Sympathy for the Devil 5:42

17 Coven - Pact With Lucifer 3:29

18 Jade - Bad Magic 3:17

19 Jethro Tull - The Witch's Promise 3:47

20 Strawbs - Keep the Devil Outside 3:02

21 Comus - The Bite 5:28

CD3

01 Third Ear Band - Devil Weed 5:47

02 Family - Anyway 3:28

03 Mighty Baby - Devil's Whisper 3:40

04 Crazy World of Arthur Brown - Devil's Grip 3:19

05 Blodwyn Pig - The Modern Alchemist 5:36

06 Manfred Mann Chapter Three - Devil Woman 5:23

07 Curtis Knight Zeus - The Devil Made Me Do It 4:00

08 Onyx - Air 3:47

09 Shape of the Rain - Big Black Bird 3:44

10 Jason Crest - Black Mass 4:46

11 Accent - Red Sky at Night 3:12

12 Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich - The Sun Goes Down 2:52

13 Laurels - The Devil's Well 2:52

14 Tear Gas - Witches Come Today 3:16

15 Black Widow - Come to the Sabbat 4:34

16 Lucifer’s Friend - Ride the Sky 2:54

17 Crazy Powell - Dance With the Devil 3:31

18 Titanic - Heia Valenga 1:38

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