History of satanic rock 5

However, in 1969, the first openly Satanic bands
began making their appearance. Perhaps first and
foremost were Black Widow, who sometimes
shared gigs with Black Sabbath. Black Widow's
1970 debut, Sacrifice, is a pro-Satanist offering
with titles like "Way To Power" "Come to the
Sabbat" "Conjuration" "Sacrifice". Not a heavy
metal band or even a hard rock band, Black
Widow's music was creepy and, in places,
corny. But it was the first attempt in rock to bring
underground Satanism to the mainstream, and
the first case of Satanism being the point of the
music, and not just one of its devices. Onstage,
they performed Satanic ritual, which included the
participation of a nude woman celebrant.
It was also around this time when Jimmy Page, a
known Crowley aficianado, supposedly convened
Led Zeppelin for a little bit of soul-trading with the
devil in an effort to assure their success, in much
the same way Robert Johnson had. While the
story is probably as apocryphal as Johnson's,
who really knows? Page eventually bought
Crowley's castle; Led Zeppelin IV (or zoso) and
"Stairway to Heaven" in particular, was hailed by
Kenneth Anger as one of the greatest Satanic
works ever. A 1974 car accident seriously injured
Robert Plant and his wife, drummer John
Bonham died in 1980. Both events were
speculated to be early paybacks for their deal.
As the 1960's wound down and the 1970's picked
up, Satanism as a movement was on the wane.
However, the success of Black Sabbath, and
heavy metal's fascinations with power, death,
and doom, meant that Satanism had forever
found a niche in rock; as long as there were
tormented teens looking for thrills, there'd be a
place for evil symbology.
Part III: The 70's and 80's
Venom
So in the 1970's and 1980's there was no
shortage of heavy metal and hard rock acts that
used Satanism either explicitly in a pro-Satanism
sense, or in an ambiguous thing-to-fear sense. A
partial roster of such bands include Angel Witch,
Venom, Pagan Altar, Widow, Witchfynde, Hell
Satan, Cloven Hoof, Warhammer, Onslaught,
Sabbat, Antichrist-Ragnarok, Cradle Of Filth,
Megiddo Bal Sagoth, December Moon, Ewigkeit,
Adorior, Hecate, Enthroned, Phantasia, Forefather,
Meads Of Asphodel, Reign Of Erebus, Thus
Defiled, Old Forest, Annal Nathrakh. Few of these
bands ever sold many records, although Venom,
which included blasphemous doggerel on the
album covers, became a favorite of severely
disaffected youth in the 80's.