BLACK WIDOW III

Black Widow is often, and quite inexplicable to me, compared to (the likes of) Black Sabbath. I can't understand why and that's simply because the two groups have nothing, or at least very little, in common with each other. Now, it's true that Sabbath came across as quite occult back in '70 and based on the inverted cross depicted on the inner sleeve, who'd think otherwise? Black Widow on the other hand played around with mock sacrifices on stage and (at least on their debut) lyrics about demons and evil, whereas Sabbath on their debut sang mainly about other stuff. (They were, in fact, basically very much a bluesy heavy rock-band.) The difference between Black Sabbath and Black Widow was, apart from the lyrics, mainly a musical issue. Sabbath was led-heavy, Black Widow was not. Sabbath was heavy rock/metal, Black Widow belonged in the realms of progressive rock. Lyrics of the dark side accompanied by great flute and organ-based progressive, making the nether world look like quite a groovy place. The lyrics changed shape by the time of the second album and turned into less demonic tales but the music stayed the same, thank God (or the Devil?). The songs and music on "III" is quite extraordinary to me. I'd compare it, musically and lyrically, to the likes of Raw Material (their second album) or Diabolus, among others. Very british sounding, I think, and very melodic. In short, outstanding. I love all three albums they made (the fourth post-humously "IV" is enjoyable aswell) and this one may well be my favorite since it's consistent and has got everything great about early 70's prog, and british prog in particular. (Besides, I think people ought to buy something else by the band (aswell) than just the first only because it's labelled "occult".) The songs are beautifully constructed and makes for a very enjoyable listening experience indeed. It's a true gem of the early 70's and I think it deserves a place in any decent prog collection.