The Satanic Mass, Anton LaVey, Church of Satan, original record, 1968

$

666

Murgenstrum Records Stereo #MM6660, 1968. Jacket is intact, shows normal shelf-wear for a record this old. Paper record sleeve fine, the record itself was played occasionally for the Nineveh Grotto, friends, and goggle-eyed/eared journalists, but always carefully with a diamond stylus, and has no surface scratches or other defects.
By 1968 the new Church of Satan was well underway, and this record was made as a commercial and publicity venture. Although the jacket says "Recorded LIVE at the Church of Satan, San Francisco", it was not a recording of an actual live Satanic Mass, but rather a "studio" recording by Anton LaVey with some member assistants.
The first side consists of a "Satanic Mass", which was not a fixed ceremony of the Church but rather a generic term for a standardized ceremonial framework which could be customized from week to week at the Central Grotto's Friday night meetings.
It begins and ends with the "Hymn to Satan", credited on the jacket to "Dietrich von Kroller" (one of Anton's aliases). Actually it was composed by a friend of Forrest J Ackerman's named Edith Eyde, and in case you'd like to sing along, here are Edith's original words:
"Satan, Prince of Darkness, Ruler of all evil things, We are your disciples, O most powerful of kings. Teach us all your evil ways, Let us know your blackest arts; You are ever in our souls, You are ever in our hearts."
The "Invocation to Satan" was standard from the Church's original mimegraphed ritual instructions, and the following year would be included in the newly-published Satanic Bible, along with the "Infernal Names", "14th Enochian Key", "Destruction Conjuration", "7th Enochian Key", "Lust Conjuration", and "19th Enochian Key". The "Baptism of Zeena" sequence would be adapted into the "Child Baptism Rite" in Anton's 1972 The Satanic Rituals. John Dee's original 14th & 17th Enochian Calls had nothing to do with either vengeance or lust, but they do add spooky zip to the ceremony, as does the 19th, which is not a "benediction" but a coded invocation for unlocking the 30 Æthyrs (cf. Aleister Crowley's The Vision and The Voice).
Side 2 of the record consists of Anton reading "The Book of Satan" (actually Ragnar Redbeard's "Might is Right" pamphlet) from the forthcoming Satanic Bible. While accompanied by a selection of Wagner Ring music, this reading concludes somewhat startlingly with a clip of John Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever". Go figure.
The back of the jacket contains not only a shivery summary of the record contents, but the advice to further terrify yourself by playing it in a dark room (with black candles if you want to place the phonograph stylus accurately). [Note: There is no candle wax on my copy. I was always too scared to turn off the lights.]
The LaVey-biographical and Church-propaganda comments on the sleeve are a tickle-mixture of truth and BS; cf. my The Church of Satan ebook to untangle it. It weighs him in at 6'/200 lbs, which explains why he couldn't possibly have worn the small/slim Satan-costume used in Rosemary's Baby. As for the Credits, "Kroller" & "Zorilla" are ASLV aliases, "A. Mayle" is just that, and Huntley & Koven were early Church members profiled in Burton Wolfe's The Devil's Avenger; I am guessing that Marie Koven was the "Lust"-voice, as it doesn't sound like Diane LaVey to me.
While The Satanic Mass has been reissued as a CD, I don't know if it has all of the text from the back of the original record jacket, and of course the LaVey organ music (the only recording of his concert organ work) and his playful "guttural ululations of the dæmonic inhabitants of the Infernal Empire" really want analog subtlety for full Satanic decadence impact.
Currently there's just one other copy of this original record on eBay for $666, so I'll add mine at that same cute price. Feel welcome to make me an offer if you're not too chicken to listen to this soul-destroying blasphemy. If you want, I'll sign the back of the jacket, although I didn't join the Church until the following year (1969). Otherwise I would have wanted to be there helping to mutter ululations.
- Michael A. Aquino