Satanic Mass
Anton LaVey (1930-1997) was a man of many vocations, lion tamer, criminologist, and hypnotist among them. But he is best known as the founder and high priest of the Church of Satan.The Satanic Mass, recorded in San Francisco back in 1968, is a dense and, yes, slightly spooky document of LaVey's vision. He was a child-prodigy musician and accomplished arranger (he even played oboe for the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra before buddying up to Beelzebub), and LaVey's chops are in fine form on this recording. Between baptizing his 3-year-old daughter and reading from the Satanic Bible, he fills his attendant coven with eerie organ swells worthy of an early Deep Purple record (a rather Satanic color, when you think about it).The Satanic Mass's fidelity is poor, and, like any church service, its rhetoric tends to bore. But as theological anachronism or party music for your next Halloween bash, it's hard to beat.--Matt Hanks