October’s chill is in the air and –finally – Halloween is right around the corner, which means ghouls and goblins everywhere are getting ready for their annual night of wicked trickery and immoral debauchery. And while there are plenty of haunted houses to visit and old witch tales to tell, the rock and roll world has always also offered up its own brand of mischievous rumors and tall stories regarding the unusual and the supernatural. So, in honor of Halloween, let’s take a look at four occult-ish rock and roll legends.
Mr. Crowley
When it comes to dabbling with the dark arts and heavy metal, no figure is more prominent than 19th Century horror writer and mystic Aleister Crowley. The secretive and controversial character, who counted W.B. Yeats among his sworn foes, has provided fodder for some of British rock’s biggest names. Iron Maiden penned two songs about him. When he went solo in the early 1980s, Ozzy Osbourne — himself no stranger to the darkside — immortalized the author with his song “Mr. Crowley” on his Blizzard of Ozz record. Crowley is also immortalized in the photo collage on the cover of the Beatles’ Sgt. Peppers album — a record whose artwork is already rife with morbid symbolism. Perhaps the biggest devotee of all though is Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page whose segment in the concert film, The Song Remains The Same, has eerie tinges of Crowley’s writings. Additionally, Zeppelin were often known to employ some rather gothic themes in their music, and no one can say that the mid-section of “Whole Lotta Love” doesn’t have some tortured, other-worldly sounds. But Page took his fanaticism one step further when he bought Crowley’s former home and actually lived in it during the 70’s and 80’s. Now that’s creepy!
Here is a clip of Page’s Crowley-ish “Dazed & Confused” segment from The Song Remains The Same:
Lords of Chaos
Though some people may claim to be in the same league of evil with Satan, few actually are. But various leaders of the early 1990s Norwegian black metal scene, however, may qualify. These definitely weren’t your average metalheads. Decked out in leather, spikes and corpse paint, regular ritual church burnings, Satanic rites, and even inter-scene killings were de rigueur for these devilishly possessed head bangers. In 1991 Mayhem frontman Dead (not his real name) killed himself with a shotgun blast to the head. In the aftermath, bandmates took eerie photos that were later used for album art, and were even alleged to have eaten some of his brains before police and paramedics arrived to clean up the scene. Members of Emperor and Burzum are currently serving time in Norwegian prison for various homicides. And, in what is possibly the most famous case of all, Varg Vickernes formerly of Mayhem and the man behind the powerhouse Burzum fatally stabbed Euronymous, a former bandmate and proprietor of the Oslo record store Helvete 25 times. Vickernes is currently incarcerated though he still manages to release records with his one-man project Burzum. All these stories and more are chronicled in the essential cult-classic book Lords of Chaos.
Check out this video that details the circumstances surrounding Vickernes, with musical accompaniment from Burzum:
Don’t Break the Oath
Nothing conjures up the dark lord quite like a concept record dominated by wailing falsetto vocals, so it should be no surprise that Danish singer King Diamond merits a spot on this list. The former Mercyful Fate frontman, who adorns himself in Kabuki style face paint and inverted crosses, came forward in a 1986 Kerrang! interview and claimed to be more than just a casual admirer of Anton LeVey, founder of the church of Satan. Furthermore, songs like Mercyful Fate’s “Nuns Have No Fun” make no bones about their heretical message. The King even claims to have placed a hex on Long Island beer swilling biker metal band Manowar after a particularly unsuccessful European tour with Mercyful Fate.
Here’s King Diamond fronting Mercyful Fate from the debut EP with “Nuns Have No Fun”:
Went Down To The Crossroads
One of the earliest – and most legendary – devilish rock myths is the legend of Robert Johnson. A struggling Delta bluesman who was having trouble making ends meet, Johnson apparently disappeared with only his guitar to a country crossroads in southern Mississippi where he traded his only real possession, his soul, for the ability to play the blues and the chance to become a legend. Whether or not this is true, Johnson did indeed become a figure to be reckoned with and an integral figure in the transition of the blues from rural plantation chants to the blue we know today. Although the official reported cause of death is arsenic poisoning, eye-witnesses swear that during his final moments Robert Johnson crawled around on the floor convulsing and cursing the devil for his deal gone bad.
Here’s Johnson’s “Me And The Devil Blues”: