King Diamond - Dreams of Horror (2014)

Should a release like Dreams of Horror really even exist in 2014? King Diamond and Mercyful Fate might stand beyond criticism in the eyes of many fans due to their respective legacies and longevity, but in the age of Bandcamp, YouTube, Torrents, etc. when most people can't even be bothered to purchase new original music, how will a compilation of previously recorded material fare? The fact that the tunes here are 'handpicked' by King Diamond doesn't really matter for me, that's been done a hundred times by various bands/musicians and any claims to the contrary are hyperbole. 'This is the first time a band has EVER cared enough achieve this monumental accomplishment!' Get stuffed. The fact that they are considered the 'ultimate versions' of these songs is also irrelevant. No, my friend...my friends, the 'ultimate versions' of these songs are the ones that the fanbase experienced as they were being recorded and released since the 80s, that stuck with us and entertained us for decades. Or, really, fans of ANY age who first took an interest in and tracked down the first legendary five records, which still stand head and fucking shoulders above anything this musician has released in his solo act since 1990.

Now, there is some novelty here in that they've managed to score the licenses to include the old material from Roadrunner/Warner. So while there have been comps before, this one is the most 'complete'. Yet it really just seems that KD and Metal Blade have gone out of their way to snake-oil this collection as the 'studio versions of a live set', as if that is supposed to render some legitimacy to purchasing more music we already own and take the individual tracks out of their respective stories. How about if we want to experience a live KD set, we just go to a goddamn live set? In reality, while the mastering on these tunes might sound crystal clear and evenly distributed across various eras of the band, it's just another pocket picking with a collage of prior album covers, high production values on the package, the same old same old from a major metal label which is just not going to dupe anyone except 'gotta catch 'em all' collectors or the who might mistake it for a new collection. So it's your basic set up of several songs taken from each of their studio albums, the career retrospective anthology, with the first disc consisting of their career hot streak from Fatal Portrait (1986) to The Eye (1990), and then the vast majority of the second disc, with a few exceptions from The Spider's Lullabye and a handful more, being almost entirely avoidable. I mean, there are tracks from the horrendous The Graveyard on this thing, which no amount of studio wizardry can transform into quality music, so I find it nigh impossible to consider this the ultimate representation of the King Diamond catalog.

Any and all points I give here will be for the work put in remastering the songs, which retain a lot of their original crystalline clarity, in particular King's falsetto lines and the elegant, wistful leads that characterized the better half of their discography. Clearly they took some time doing this, and were intent not to just reproduce the material 100% off the older printings. I'm not entirely opposed to re-recordings of stuff with modern, evolved sounds just for fun (like a few German thrash legends have done successfully), but this is not one of those cases. That said, I still do not find these to be superior to experiencing the songs in their original format, in among their neighbors which helped relay the narrative of each of King's horror sagas. Sure, you can have favorite KD tunes and put together a playlist for yourself, but removing "The Family Ghost" and "Black Horseman" just isn't going to cut it for me when I want to immerse myself in Abigail. If it's a live show, and they want to pick and choose for the set, that's fine, but I just don't need to plunk down the dough on something which doesn't feel authentic. I'm not sure if this was some sort of contractual thing with the label, but I wish any effort expended towards this had simply been put into new material, because it's been well over a decade since they were turning out material I actually enjoyed (Abigail II, The Puppet Master) and I know on some of that I'm probably even in the minority.

Really cannot recommend this whatsoever unless you absolutely must own every single item with the logo on it, to the extent that you're like a KISS collector maniac, only for one of the other face painted rock stars. Or maybe if you're an audiophile who loathes some of the original recordings, but then you'll be left hanging since there are only snippets of the total backlog included. Granted, there's a little more here value than in your average, soulless big label anthology, in that someone or several persons sat on their duffs and tweaked a few knobs. So I doubt I'll slap a massive zero on it, but as such a huge fan of all that unforgettable music Petersen and LaRocque released through the 80s and earlier 90s, I can only implore the new listener to experience their legacy within the proper perspective. The proper context. You want to support the band? Start at Fatal Portrait. BUY Fatal Portrait. And then the next, and the next. Go to a show. If you can't, try and check out a video of a gig (I don't believe there are many official DVDs you can choose from). I can't wait to hear a new album personally, and I do hope it's a triumph, the best thing they've done in 25 years (specially after King's triple-bypass surgery). But this just isn't going to tide me over, and I find it pretty useless since there is just no chance I'll listen to this over the albums. And if I want a playlist for driving, I can always just press 'Shuffle' on the first six.

Sparkly backwash is still backwash.

Verdict: Why Bother?! [2/10]

http://www.kingdiamondcoven.com/site/

King Diamond - Give Me Your Soul...Please (2007)

Infanticide is hardly a novel theme for a King Diamond record. Little ones have been maimed, molested and murdered by all manner of antagonists in his tales, so it feels like a 'return to the well' when once is considering the lyrical matters of the 12th full-length album Give Me Your Soul...Please. It is important to note, though, that Diamond is not taking 'the side' of these butchers and pedophiles, but is in fact a staunch and outspoken enemy to such violations. He tells these tales not from some morbid fascination, but with a clear intention to revolt the audience into taking a stronger stance themselves against such crimes against the innocent. A noble endeavor, to be sure, but some people might take it the wrong way. Don't.

I admit, I did not get off on the right foot with this record. It looks pretty stupid, and the title is awful, but within just a few songs I found that the musical content, itself nothing novel or spectacular, was coherent enough that it felt a natural successor to The Puppet Master. Same lineup, same polished, voluminous production standards, and no skimping on the effort, but no matter how hard I try, I can never shake the feeling that Give Me Your Soul...Please feels like some sidereal movement. An also-ran, so deep in the band's career that it serves no other purpose than to stay steady and keep the dream alive. Which is in itself a justification for existence, but hardly the sort to garner much praise. One example of how this stench permeates the album is just how easy it seems to pin where a lot of the riffs come from: "Never Ending Hill" clearly has a spin on Priest's "Painkiller" very early on. The intro to "Is Anybody Here?" seems like a mere paraphrasing of "Eastmann's Cure" from The Spider's Lullabye (though I dug the ensuing groove). The folksy melody inaugurating "Mirror, Mirror" also seems painfully familiar, as do many other individual guitar progressions.

That's not to say they're blatant ripoffs, but the album simply doesn't feel creative. It's more or less a direct doppelganger of the two prior works. The musicians have pulled no punches and spared no efforts, in particular the well structured lead sequences or the perkier percussion of the more thrash/power-metal oriented guitar progressions, but nowhere did I find that 'distinctive' stamp of brilliance that proudly glared at me from the spectral King Diamond works of years far gone. This is more a band, keeping on keeping on, proving it can run and gun well into its twilight years, and while I can't really fault Give Me Your Soul... solely on its lack of a unique identity among the group's many full-lengths, the music is decidedly unmemorable when compared even to something like The Puppet Master or Voodoo. From a technical perspective, there are no real complaints: no frost has formed on the limbs of LaRocque, Patino, or Wead. That I can assure you. But it sucks that, with all of their collective strengths, and Petersen's dreamlike, eerie falsetto, they couldn't come up with better.

A few cuts do tease some degree of quality, like "The Floating Head" once you get past some of the vapid if driving chug rhythms. Or "The Cellar", which does manifest some degree of haunting beauty as it surges from mid-paced, narrative riffs to thundering speed/power metal. But even these lack the unforgettable sort of vocal melody that you want to endlessly cycle from your own lungs if you've got the pitch. Perhaps this is indicative of 'too much of a good thing'. Perhaps the novelty of King Diamond has simply worn me out after so many timeless experiences with this group and his alma mater Mercyful Fate, but there's got to be some reason I can remember, as clear as day, almost every song the guy released from 1984-1992, but everything here evades me within hours of hearing it. Not that it's necessarily bad music, but it had some towering stairs to climb if it wanted to reach the next level, and instead it gave up and chose a smoke break...

And, speaking of smoke breaks, I really hope this isn't the last we'll hear of the band. I realize a year or so ago he had some heart complications, and has since been lying low aside from the occasional guest gig like he did with Metallica on a few dates. I'm crossing my fingers that he'll kick the habit, take a long and deserved break and then return to us with something stripped down to what made his music so valuable in the first place. He's well fucking earned it. Never mind the modernity and mediocrity manifest by an album like Give Me Your Soul...Please, let's recapture some of that evocative necromancy of Don't Break the Oath, or Fatal Portrait, or the first Abigail. Songs before style. Spine chilling melodies. Cross your fingers, folks.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10] (don't let anyone see your bloody dress)

http://www.covenworldwide.org/

King Diamond - The Puppet Master (2003)

The Puppet Master is not a favorite of mine amongst the King Diamond canon, but by no means is it a dropping of the ball that they had, at long last picked up with Abigail II: The Revenge. If anything, this is a more richly produced album which suffers only because, despite its enormous sound quality, it doesn't have a hell of a lot of tunes which stand out in memory. Granted, Abigail II was not itself quite a match for the band's masterworks in their heydays of the 80s, but I felt there were a good 7-8 songs there that I would keep returning to, where The Puppet Master provides me with only about 3-4. Those particular choices are certainly memorable and belong on the short list of his best material beyond The Eye, but I often struggle to retain the rest of the album in my thoughts.

But gods, does this sound huge. Stylistically, it picks up straight on the ghostly vapor trails left behind by its predecessor: a re-envisioning of the band's 80s overtures with a lot of modern power to the guitars. It helps that, for the most part, this is the same lineup as the band used the year before, only with the added dimension of King's wife, Livia Zita contributing the female vocals. It's an admittedly predictable horror story here, about a pair of lovers who experience a puppet show in Hungary, only to then be turned themselves into helpless marionettes by the vile 'Puppet Master' himself. King once again introduces himself as a central character in the fable, and there are a few grisly details involving the eye sockets of characters that strike a nerve, but as usual this is not exactly the most frightening of narratives. That said, what I enjoyed most is just how well the actual songwriting captures the aesthetic of such murderous dolls, thanks to the creepy, percussive power/thrash rhythms invested into tunes like the excellent "Blood to Walk" or the dire melodies of "Emergencia".

The guitars are even louder than on Abigail II, and the level of riffing comparable, at least for the standout songs. Once again, Kim Petersen has defied the process of aging, his glittering pipes still capable of hitting the range he was exploring well over a decade before this. I give some credit that Livia's lines don't really feel like an intrusion into the mix, but they play out in a tune like "Emergencia" almost like a morbid ballet. I won't say that she's got the most memorable voice, but it sounds practiced and competent enough. It's just too easy to be overshadowed by the King himself, whose schizoid retching and screaming on a piece like "No More Me" are nearly as charismatic as anything he was producing during his prime. Rhythmically, it's also a strong effort, centered more around grooving rhythms than speed metal licks, the drums and bass quite focused on their task rather than deviating from the guitars' path; but once again this lurching, jeering sense of motion plays itself well with the narrative theme. The dolls really seem to stand up and dance around in the bloody ark of the lyrics.

If I've got any problem, it's merely that the riffs and atmosphere have been done to a far better degree in the past, and the melodies just don't seem to titillate the senses nearly as much as the old hits. This is one of those records which is so positively produced that you feel there is no help but to enjoy it, and yet after the curtains fall and the puppeteers have left the theater, I find it just doesn't stick with me. Songs like "Darkness", "Living Dead" and "Christmas" all have their moments, but I'd never actively seek them out unless I was dead set on experiencing The Puppet Master in the fullest. I was fortunate enough to get the limited edition with the DVD, which involves is King Diamond narrating scenes and videos from the story, but I can't say that it's any more effective than just reading the lyrics myself as I listen to the music and open my inner eyes to the settle and events (like I had to do for all the other albums). Still, it's a decent bonus, and in no way can I complain.

This album seemed to generate quite a lot of positive press and a strong fan reaction, which is no surprise thanks to the production and the obvious amount of love and care placed in its construction. That said, my own beaming response to the previous album precludes me from really getting all that excited, since I felt that was already the comeback I was waiting for, this didn't add a lot outside of meatier guitars and vocal levels. As for the contention I've read that this is somehow 'the best' of King Diamond's works, I must call utter bullshit. There are songs on Fatal Portrait, the first and weakest of the 80s hot streak, that I like more than all the content of The Puppet Master combined. But besides the fact that it didn't personally live up to the hype surrounding it, I will say that at least this album was no disappointment. I might not love it, or really listen to it all that often, but it was no letdown.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10] (almost human in size)


http://www.covenworldwide.org/

King Diamond - Abigail II: The Revenge (2002)

'Sequel albums', like sequel films, are always a risky proposition, especially when they come after such a broad gulf from the first (or earlier) work in a particular series. If they were being released at normal intervals, like a serial or chain of episodes, then that would be one thing, but in the case of King Diamond's Abigail II: The Revenge, you're looking at a 15 year gap after the beloved 1987 original, which stands as one of the band's finest albums and, if I'm being honest, one of the best of the 80s, period. As we've all no doubt learned, the idea of such a sequel often runs counter to common sense. After all, there's a strong chance of alienating what might be the most important weapon in an established act's arsenal: the installed fan base. For example, look at the abortion that was Operation: Mindcrime II, which came after an even broader span of time (18 years) and failed utterly to capture the magic of the first album.

There is no doubt that, while the very notion of a followup to Abigail album might have been brewing inside the minds of Petersen and LaRocque for awhile, that nostalgia and the diminishing returns of their recent albums leading into the 21st century played their parts in the ultimate manifestation of The Revenge. It's not a bad thing that a band would want to return to the roots of their greatness, and I can hardly blame the duo for cashing in the roster of the last album and seeking to reconnect with earlier members from an age when the 'magic' was happening, but it's hardly a formula for automatic success as we've seen from a goodly number of reunions in the genre. This time out, it happens to work out for the Danes. They brought back bassist Hal Patino after a 12 year absence, and Hexenhaus/Mercyful Fate alumnus Mike Wead to replace Glen Drover, who was busy with his own band Eidolon, and eventually Megadeth. Prolific US drummer Matt Thompson was hired on to fill John Luke Hebert's seat, and they had Kol Marshall, who co-produced this record with King and Andy themselves, to contribute keys.

Abigail II is, thankfully, a rousing success, and the best of the band's albums since The Eye in 1990, slightly edging out The Spider's Lullabye. To some extent, this is due to the fact that the band have more or less returned to those aforementioned roots in terms of filling out a conceptual work with some due atmosphere, and catchier licks than they'd been creating in over a decade. This is a 'total package' sort of record, where the production, artwork/layout, track pacing and musicianship all converge to provide nearly an hour of escape to all the wayward souls who might have been turned off the band since the later 80s. Hell, just look at the cover art courtesy of Travis Smith, which is the best the band had used since "Them" or the original Abigail. Unlike the dullard cover images of works like House of God or The Graveyard, this one actually beckons the viewer back to the realm of the twilight, campy supernatural horror that King Diamond built this career on.

It helps that it sounds so magnificent, capturing the clarity of its polished predecessors but with a guitar tone that had me pining for the early years, though fully capable of entertaining a younger crowd who had, unbeknownst to their knowledge, been spoiled with a decade or more of studio enhancements. Patino never skips a beat, his lines floating like a corpse-painted manta ray beneath the rhythmic balance of Wead and LaRocque. Thompson is perhaps not a vastly more technical drummer than the two before him, but he certainly lends the album some reliable power and the production of the kick and snare seems far more vibrant here. The leads and dual guitar harmonies are out in full force, and King himself doesn't sound a day older than when he releases The Eye or The Spider's Lullabye. As I'm sure its creators were hoping, the whole affair seems like a 'second wind' had been breathed into the stagnating project's lungs.

Which would amount to squat, if the songs weren't also quite damned catchy. Abigail II doesn't fuck around with a lot of cheesy interludes pieces. You've got the intro "Spare This Life", a brief outro in "Sorry Dear", and the meat of the record is 11 tracks straight of metal-driven narrative, with not a stinker among them even if they're not written at the memorable level of some of the 80s records. A lot of the tunes are intro'd with these synth and string sections that strike like a crystal rain before the thundering surge of the guitars. "The Storm" is a fair power metal piece to get the blood rushing, but once they zip into the acrobatics of "Mansion in Sorrow" this disc picks up steam with Diamond's layered falsetto/midrange tracking and a strong momentum of the guitars. But the album thankfully never lets up, with the winding "Slippery Stairs", the freakish stop/start antics that slice through "Broken Glass" or the straight drive of "Miriam" or "The Wheelchair".

As for the story behind the record, it's the usual mayhem and murder with a supernatural undercurrent. It offers some twists and turns on the original Abigail, picking up when she's an 18-year old woman and then 'tying some loose ends', though I can't promise she comes out unscathed herself. Like many of the other King Diamond albums, it's about bad things happening to a person of the female persuasion, par for the course, though as usual it's not presented in a particularly tasteless or misogynistic way. The lyrics are fair, certainly nothing masterful but a lot better than most of the 90s records whether they're being told through brief, descriptive passages or the first person character perspective.

Abigail II: The Revenge is one of those albums I'd categorize as 'great', but never perfect. As rich and fulfilling as the compositions feel, they certainly don't breed the same 'instant classic' atmosphere that was pervasive on the 1986-90 records. It'd be hard to recognize anything here at the level of a "Burn", or a "Welcome Home", or "The Family Ghost". But nonetheless, it was a cause for some celebration: King Diamond had once again become fluent in what it does best. Crystalline, spectral horror delivered with some goddamned class and maturity, and though it's not doing anything truly original with a formula that was mastered 15 years in its past, it provided ample enough reason to get excited, once more, for what these gentlemen could summon from the shadows and the forgotten.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10] (a woman in every single way)

http://www.covenworldwide.org/

King Diamond - House of God (2000)

For the follow-up to Voodoo, King Diamond brought on a few new hard hitters, including Canadian axe wizard Glen Drover and another former Chastain/Leather alumni in bassist David Harbour who had worked with John Luke Herbert before. This was unquestionably a stronger lineup than the last one, though it would be sadly short-lived (Drover, Herbert and Harbour would all depart before Abigail II) since Diamond and LaRocque would start waxing nostalgic. House of God is also arguably one of the most interesting albums in terms of its concept, but I'd think of it not so much as a 'horror' record, but a conspiracy theory involving a bit of the supernatural, and by that I mean a shape shifting temptress, a Faustian bargain and the preserved body of Jesus Christ lying in the crypt of some old French church.

No, it's not scary, but really, were ANY of King Diamond's albums 'scary' unless you were the sort that jumped in his/her seat at the sight of Freddy Krueger? Perhaps in the right mood, by candlelight, Fatal Portrait might grant me a few shivers, but really, I have never turned to Petersen's lyrics and music for an A-great chillfest, instead I just really love the guy's music (for the most part). At least the narrative here feels relatively fresh territory for the King to explore, we needed a respite from the usual ghost story and he gave us one. I will say though that the creativity of House of God expands beyond its central concept to the actual music. I'm not sure if it was so much the new members, of if they just found Voodoo a bit too redolent of their past works, but the riffing set used for this Y2K doesn't feel as derivative. Not that House of God is all that well written or more than faintly memorable, or that the guitar progressions are that unusual for a mix of thrash/power metal, but at least this felt like a 'new' album.

In terms of its production, this is slightly less atmospheric than Voodoo but thicker and appreciably juicier than the dry spell that had been The Graveyard. A lot of clean, bold chugging sequences permeate cuts like "Black Devil" or "Help!!!", and Harbour has a copious tone which moves and grooves beneath the rhythm guitar. The man himself, King Diamond delivers a pretty anguished, straightforward performance that, while not exceeding any of his legendary displays of falsetto prowess in the late 80s, at least manages a fine balance of shrieking and mid-ranged, venomous narrative, nicely layered across a few tracks. There are some pitch shifted, goofy vocals in the intro "Upon the Cross" or "Black Devil" that are so ludicrous that they create an instant hurdle for anyone to care about the album's theme, but otherwise the atmospheric shorts like "Passage to Hell" or the ghoulish, gliding vocal/lead guitar arrangement in "Goodbye" feel pretty true to the form of past interludes. Organs and keys are still used occasionally but not a prominent feature of the core metal songs.

Most of the guitar lines are just downright simple, which isn't in itself a negative or unexpected trait, but sadly this translates into a fair degree of mediocrity here. You get some pedestrian chugging, some decent glazed leads, but nothing bordering on the chilling atmosphere that once dominated an album like Abigail or "Them". I laud that this doesn't seem like much of a rehash of safer times, but even the last album Voodoo had a better selection. As such, pitifully few of the songs here manifest anything bordering on a catchy procession of notes that demand constant replay. I've seen some of the tunes performed live, and they fit in well enough with the backlog, but there are no 'hits' on this album whatsoever, no individual cuts that I'd include on a King Diamond playlist on my iPod. Like both its predecessors, it just doesn't seem to age all that well, and I had to blow a fresh layer of dust off it before this listening/review.

It doesn't surprise me that this was never given a highly positive reception by the fan base, and if I'm not mistaken it even sold less than the two preceding albums. There are a couple good, screamed vocals lines and a few of the leads pop right out of the mix to sweeten the ear, but even taken in as a whole it feels like the band's songwriting was still in the same slump that it had experienced since about 1991. But ultimately, it's not a 'bad' album like The Graveyard, merely an average affair. It's never dull enough that would anger anyone, and in the background it provides an accessible, acceptable King Diamond experience, just not one that either evolves the boundary's of the bands style for the new century, or features the brilliant level of composition that thrust him into the naughty nightmares of shock metal fans in the 80s. The lyrics and the theme of House of God are actually quite mature and stirring when compared to any of the other albums, only mildly dweebie due to King's usual affection for character dialogue; they ask some interesting questions, but unfortunately the music does not.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10] (just her name)


http://www.covenworldwide.org/

King Diamond - Voodoo (1998)

Voodoo was the first King Diamond album in history that i actually found myself not looking forward to, and the blame could be largely placed upon the shoulders of its pathetic predecessor The Graveyard. Thankfully, my apprehension wound up misplaced, because while it's certainly not one of the better recordings in the King's backlog, it at least returns to a stronger production sensibility and the songwriting is vastly superior to that 1996 tar-pit of creativity. Voodoo is muscular and atmospheric, the album that should have been the direct follow-up to The Spider's Lullabye; even if it lacks tracks that really stand out to me like "Killer" or "Eastmann's Curse", you could tell that the band was at least trying to retain that sense of shrill ghastliness and nocturnal grandeur that it mastered so many years prior.

The recurrent supernatural themes of this album reek of those found on "Them" and Conspiracy, only set in the context of a Mississippi River community in the 30s. Probably inspired by the classic film White Zombie, only not exactly due to the change in location and a slightly different plot. 'King' himself was not a character in this particular tale, but as usual those he scripts wear their personalities on their sleeves. Like 'Nurse Needle' in The Spider's Lullabye, here we have 'Salem' a practitioner of dark magic, who decides to side with his religion against a local rich family (whom he works for as a house servant) that wants to destroy the local voodoo grounds. Seriously, who could blame them? That shit is creepy, and Salem ends up justifying their hostilities and suspicion as the grisly events of the story play out. As usual, it's a simplistic story with a few twists and turns, the sort of light fare Diamond is always trying to squeeze into the confines of a single album, so one should not expect some literary, impressive narrative.

I didn't care for the little ditties wedged in between a few of the full-length songs, like "Unclean Spirits" which is more or less The Exorcist on a King Diamond record or the intro "Louisiana Darkness" which at least sets a theme and setting with the buzzing insects and river of gentle falsetto and tribal drumming. But there are some half-decent metal cuts here like "Loa House", which took me straight back to the years of "Them", or the interesting "One Down Two to Go", which surges between periods of calm and some savage riffing, grooves and acrobatic slices of lead-work. I can't cite Voodoo as being highly original, since most of the guitars still feel like echoes of finer years, with a few new notes re-arranged and a slightly bouncier overall veneer, but this is at least the King Diamond I knew and loved those many years stirring itself back to form.

It clearly sounds better than The Graveyard, because the guitars have some true power and depth to them, wisely disposing of the parched punch I had to endure there for nearly an hour. The rhythms don't involve a lot of incredible hooks, nor are the vocal lines particularly haunting or resonant with me these many years later, but the drums possess a heavier thunder here, possibly due to the acquisition of pounder John Luke Hebert who had played on a great Chastain record, For Those Who Dare in 1990 (and former Chastain vocalist Leather Leone's solo album Shock Waves the year before that). For bassist Christ Estes and guitarist Herb Simonsen, this would be the last studio effort with the King, and they turn in adequate enough performances that they can be forgiven for the dry spell two years earlier. I enjoyed the leads far more than The Graveyard, but then they don't exactly have the most compelling foundation of riffs to build upon.

All told, this is twice the album that it's predecessor was, and managed to curb the dread I was feeling for the band's future, but far from the first King Diamond album I'd reach for when I find myself in the mood for a supernatural falsetto drama. The voodoo angle is one the band was destined to explore, yet it doesn't leave a lasting taste thematically like an Abigail or The Eye. Nor does the music.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10] (pins through their little heads)

http://www.covenworldwide.org/

King Diamond - The Graveyard (1996)

Not only does King Diamond's 7th full-length The Graveyard give off the appearance of boredom incarnate, but its internal compositions radiate the sort of ennui that leads me to wonder why this one even got out the gates. Comprised of material that wouldn't even be fit as an afternoon fly snack for its arachnid-obsessed predecessor, much less the band's brilliant mid through late 80s legacy, it seems like someone had the bright idea to put forth an hour of filler and cash in on the 'brand name' alone. Sure, the music is identifiable as King Diamond, it doesn't exactly break the formula of prior records in terms of its stylistic choices or horror narrative, but that is not enough to spare it from utter vapidity. If this were coming from many other bands, it would seem like mere mediocrity, but from the King, whose standards of quality had been so high (in both his bands) up to this point, it's almost offensive.

The tale itself behind The Graveyard is perhaps one of King's more morbid, possibly even the most socially relevant of his albums, as it involves child molestation, corruption and revenge, but he maintains a supernatural spin on the story thanks the lead character's cemetery obsession. Still, none of this rescues it from a feeling of redundancy, especially in terms of horrible things happening to young girls. Abigail. Missy. Lucy. When will it end? And never before had the intros and interludes on a King Diamond record seemed so worthless and washed up, especially where Petersen presents us with his schizoid array of voices in 'Them'-like vignettes. In fact, the album feels relatively exhausted from the opening piece "The Graveyard" and it never quite builds from that point on. I wouldn't say the man's voice wasn't holding up here, but it seems like a lot of the vocal lines don't seem to have that same level of effort and melodic manipulation he had mastered on earlier outings. The lyrics suck terribly, though some lenience can be applied as they follow the same dialogue-driven format as they always had.

But King's own lackluster showing here is not the album's chief flaw. It's the enormously dry and tedious feel of the production. The guitar tone here is punchy and uninspired, lacking so much of the resonance from the other albums. Perhaps for 1996 this felt like a more 'modern' and sincere approach than saturating the music with so much glitter and screaming resonance, but it feels like they polished off the tracking and barely did anything to lend it effectiveness. It almost has a demo level feel to it which I'm just not buying up. The drums are poppy, the bass is thick but does nothing exciting, and the guitars are at best clinical in the more thrash-oriented riffs, not unlike Flotsam & Jetsam's 1990 disappointment When the Storm Comes Down. Now, if the riffing progressions were more interesting, with even a fraction of the catchiness of The Eye or Abigail, I could forgive the way it sounds, but these too seem hollow, a grab bag of paraphrased patterns from the older albums at best. LaRocque's leads are competent, as usual, but lack the burning mystique they once reveled in.

You're still getting a cross-section of speed/power, thrash and even a little doom/groove to the verses of a track like "Digging Graves" or "Heads on the Wall", but pitifully few of the songs sink their hooks in. Really, I struggled to form any recollection of a single track on the album in leading up to this review. It's one of those cases where I purchased the CD on release, found it a miserable disappointment and promptly placed it on the shelf, to revisit it every few years with the unlikely hope that it might 'grow on me'. The Graveyard seemed like such a shocking dip in quality after The Spider's Lullabye that it really caught me off guard, until I later learned that that album had been written in 1991, just never recorded or released. Thus, The Graveyard might be viewed as the first truly 'new' King Diamond material after the surprisingly solid Mercyful Fate reunion of that decade, and a potentially disastrous portent of things to come.

It would be easy to blame this on a combination of the band's lineup and a phoned in lack of interest from the primary parties (Andy and King), but I also can't help but feel that King in particular hard probably just worked himself into exhaustion by the middle of the 90s, and this is the untimely result (along with some of the underwhelming Fate albums to follow it) of such a high level of productivity. There were far greater disappointments in these years, like Metallica's Load or Slayer's Diabolus in Musica, but The Graveyard certainly scrapes the bottom of the barrel in terms of the King Diamond canon, and is best forgotten by all parties involved and everyone unfortunate enough to have experienced it. Strangely, the album was hardly a 'failure' in terms of its sales, but this was a time when Hootie and the Blowfish were selling gangbusters, so sucking and selling very often coincide.

Verdict: Fail [3.25/10] (what am I doing here)

http://www.covenworldwide.org/

King Diamond - The Spider's Lullabye (1995)

Five consecutive years of home run horror-themed concept albums, and then five years of relative silence. This would be King Diamond's legacy going into the former half of the dreaded 90s, and in a different world, The Spider's Lullabye might have original come out in 1991 and continued the streak. Or at least tried to. That said, the band's sudden absence was not without an understandable reason: Kim Bendix Petersen had reunited with Mercyful Fate for some touring and studio time, which rewarded us with the albums In the Shadows and Time, both of which were surprisingly good, so who could complain? Eventually, Diamond got around to putting together another 'solo' effort, with Andy LaRocque returning and then an entirely new rhythm section consisting of Herb Simonsen (guitars), Chris Estes (bass) and Darrin Anthony (drums).

The Spider's Lullabye is perhaps the last of the 'essential' King Diamond records, or if not essential, then the last of the 'good' King Diamond albums for several years to come. It's got a few issues, especially with the rather lame story (even by the usual Diamond standards, which were not high), and a few duds waiting in the wing...err, webs, but there's enough money riffing here to save it from the flaming pits. Hell, I'm not even sure I could call this album a 'disappointment'. Just about anything might seem lackluster after that 1986-90 period, especially when it ended with The Eye, an unsung masterpiece. As happy as I was that Mercyful Fate had reformed and written some quality material for the first time in a decade, in 1995 I was simply content that Kim was not planning on abandoning his solo material indefinitely, and The Spider's Lullabye is just compensation for the five-year gap even if it was only the calm before the shitstorm abortion The Graveyard, which might have forced me into a deep bout with alcoholism had I not been so busy with the rest of life.

This album is not quite as involved or busy as Conspiracy, nor is it as eloquent and beautiful as The Eye, but it's definitely a manifestation of similar atmosphere to what they were doing in 1990. In particular, the use of the organs as an important backing element to tracks like "The Poltergeist" felt very familiar, and of course the due diligence Diamond gives each of the verse and chorus sequence certainly feels like a natural followup. There is a great deal of versatility in the riffing, from the Sabbath swagger of "To the Morgue" to the rampant melodic speed metal of "Eastmann's Cure" (one of the best songs here), and a distinct lack of narrative interludes or intros to drive the tale. Or tales, rather, since The Spider's Lullabye is only 40% concept album, the final four songs (title track, "Eastmann's Cure", "Room 17" and "To the Morgue") telling the saga of Harry Eastmann, an arachnophobic hermit who ends up in the 'wrong hands', if you will, playing out almost like a Lucio Fulci giallo.  The other tunes all feature their own nods to various horror cliches, with "Six Feet Under" providing a sort of 'alternate' ending to Them/Conspiracy.

King sounds really airy here with his falsetto, though when he's singing about things like, well, spiders, it's a little difficult to take seriously. Not that anyone ever did in the 80s, but at least his shrill wailing was a decent match for ghost stories or witch trials. The riffs are still quite strong in general,driving and creative within the hybrid foundation of speed, heavy, power and thrash metal the band had manifest in the prior decade. Tunes like the fattened "Room 17" literally swell with atmosphere like a corpse bloated with spider hatchlings, but there were only a few in particular which I found as immortal as, say, an "Eye of the Witch" or "Burn". The second song, "Killer" slowly builds through chugging and mid-range sneers to this brilliant, cyclic swagger which almost seems like it would fit right at home on a 'pirate metal' record. "Eastmann's Cure", which I had mentioned was one of the highlights of the album, has a lot of unforgettable, driving melodic elements and a gleaming, spectral chorus to it; while I love the atmosphere during the speed metal rush that develops in "The Poltergeist".

The rest of the tracks are all acceptable, and more than fit the mood of their lyrical themes. This is not an album I can't pull off the shelf and listen through in its entirety, but a number of the compositions have a hard time engraving themselves into my mind. The rhythm section here, while competent enough to do the job, simply doesn't seem as interesting as the old lineup with Patino, Dee and so forth. Thus, the music relies so heavily on Diamond and LaRocque and there's just not coming up with the same level of consistent hooks as they once did. That said, while The Spider's Lullabye was the first of their records that didn't seem to mark a poignant evolution (forward or sideways) in the King Diamond sound, it's still a success, especially in the middle of such a dead period for traditional metal aesthetics, when bands were selling themselves down river to alternative rock, groove metal and so forth. The production is pretty straightforward, with some potency to the rhythm guitars that works in the framework of general heaviness, though I do rue the understated majesty of the prior album.

To sum it up: The Spider's Lullabye might seem a rung or so down the ladder from its predecessors, but when compared to its own, miserable followup The Graveyard it could be considered a work of genius. If you enjoyed any of the classics leading up to it, or Mercyful Fate's In the Shadows, then this is worth the pocket change.

Verdict: Win [8/10] (oh, they live in every corner)

http://www.covenworldwide.org/

King Diamond - Conspiracy (1989)

Conspiracy bears immediate distinction as the first King Diamond 'sequel' album. It is not the only case of this happening in his career, but whereas Abigail II was separated from its narrative predecessor by a span of 15 years, this arrived just over a year after "Them" had, and there was quite a lot of anticipation from a portion of the band's fans to see what exactly would happen to this central 'King' character when he was all grown up. Personally, while I appreciate the thought he put into them and found the ideas unique at the time in terms of concept albums, I have never found the actual 'stories' in most of the albums all that compelling (with the possible exception of The Eye). 'King' returns to his ancestral home, drafts up a few terms with the malevolent spirits there, and gets to visit with his dead sister while others, corporeal or otherwise, conspire against him and his inheritance. Big whoop.

But then, Conspiracy doesn't exactly need to aspire to Stephen King or Clive Barker levels of fictional quality, because the music written for this thing is so splendidly contagious that it ranks among one of the best in all the King Diamond canon, and a crucial cornerstone in his winning 'streak' that persisted from his Mercyful Fate years through 1990's witching masterpiece. I would argue that this was the technical peak for the band, in terms of the band's arrangements and instrumental proficiency. Not that Andy LaRocque couldn't pull out a more difficult or intense lead somewhere down the roll of years, but this album put such a cap on the level of ability that it's successor, The Eye had no choice but to broach a more atmospheric direction (which I'm thankful it did) if Petersen and friends wanted to experience any sort of growth or evolution whatsoever. Conspiracy is just that precise, intimate, intimidating, unique and well written that it makes a great deal of both the US and European power/speed metal of the mid to late 80s seem positively infantile by comparison. And I don't make such a statement lightly, because that period represented a clear summit for the style.

Just as one might expect from a sequel to the spectral "Them", much of Conspiracy is devoted to building a haunting backdrop for the surgical techniques of the core musicians. You'll hear a lot of funeral organs, schizoid whispers and synthesizer glaze coursing through the album to better compel its central theme. Miraculously, the Danes decided to avoid clotting up the album with brief, narrative ligaments. Only the shock feature "Let It Be Done" is anything less than instrumentally rewarding, and this even has some freakish pianos along with Petersen's deeper spoken word timbre. There is one instrumental "Something Weird", but the phantasmal melodies that Pete Blakk and LaRocque morph into the keyboard orchestration are so rich and wondrous that it becomes one of the most striking pieces on the record, sans vocals or steady percussion. After all, they had a thing for fantastic instrumentals, the melodic acoustics of "Insanity" off The Eye will haunt me forever.

Everywhere else, though, Conspiracy is built on the backs of a staggering array of metallic riffing that could rival anyone else coming out of such a creative European field in 1989. One might struggle to define this album as either speed/thrash or heavy/power metal, for surely it contains enough elements of both to qualify it as a hybrid of these and even a touch of progressive/speed not unlike what younger Stateside masters Toxik and Realm were producing at the time (also in the extended Roadrunner/RC Records family). You'll hear steadied, rampant triplet rhythms, delirious outbreaks into speed and flair akin to what Randy Rhodes and later Zakk Wylde brought to the Ozzy Osbourne solo camp, flashy and effective lead sequences. King Diamond had been implementing the blues-based grooves as far back as Mercyful Fate, and certainly we heard a few through Abigail and "Them". But with Conspiracy, they become these emotionally resonant, triumphant bulwarks that instantly exude testosterone. What man could not ball his fists and bang his head to the adrenaline inductive intro and verse riffing in "Victimized", or the choppier grooves permeating "Lies"? I've not met him.

As usual, Petersen lends credibility and effort to each and every vocal line, BAR NONE, throughout the whole 48 minutes of the experience. Crystalline clarity that few others in the field could emulate, in both his herniating mid range and the falsetto cries that have come to define the man by both his harshest critics and stalwart supporters. It's obvious the guy had a lot of fun carving these disturbed characters, both ghostlike and fleshly through the story, and though one might become lost without the physical assistance of the lyric booklet, they're just as amusing to listen to. The rhythm duo of Mikkey Dee (drums) and Hal Patino (bass) also deserve some credit, creating a flexible foundation for the guitars and vocals to waltz over, but I would say that the unsung hero on this album might just be the elusive Robert Falcao, whose keys have a more prominent role than the other full-lengths he contributed to, even if they are outdistanced by the axe-work.

Of course, Falcao also had his hands tied with some of the engineering and production work, in which he was joined here by the legendary Chris Tsangarides, who everyone knows from albums like Painkiller, Metal on Metal, and The Eternal Idol. Together with the band, they create this amazingly high budget feel to the record which surpasses its predecessors in terms of sheer polish, without becoming stale or plasticized. The level of reverb and general airiness of Conspiracy is a little less brash and saturated than "Them", and while I had no problem with either of those things to begin with, I think what manifests here moved the group in a more accessible direction for their expanding audience, while allowing the effects on the leads and melodies and the myriad vocal tracks to really shine without competing with the bottom end of the bass and rhythm guitars.

Could I possibly summon forth any complaints about this album, I would settle them on the fact that there is one song among the many that I found less than perfect, and that would be the lullabye-fronted "A Visit from the Dead". Don't get me wrong, it matches the aesthetic of its part on the story, and there are a number of great guitar licks in there, but where its neighbors just clobber me with incessant genius, this is the one piece I might gladly skip past if I were in a rush. The cover also seemed a little lazy. I realize there are few figures out there as iconic as Diamond when it comes to flashing his gums and paints for a photo shoot, but he had already done this for The Dark Sides EP and I would not have minded a little cover artwork. But really, this is an insignificant qualm since the shot here is beloved by so many, and it's not like the guy is pretending to be some sex symbol, he looks ghastly, bloodied and his eyes penetrate your soul almost as much as his pitch.

In the end, and forevermore, Conspiracy is easily one of the best of King Diamond's catalog and capitalizes in every way on its predecessor, even surpassing it by a slim margin in terms of song quality. Sleek and graceful, but explosive and muscular where needed, it's the epitome of a horror metal concept album in such a time that very few bands were attempting the feat. The composition level was riding its all time high, the song selection was versatile and loaded with more memorable leads and riffs than one could hope for in six other records of its niche, and it provided further evidence that, despite the shock rocker gimmicks and almost caricature nature of Petersen's vocals, this guy was no laughing matter. If forced to pick favorites among his records, I might slightly favor Abigail and The Eye to this record, since those felt the most effective in matching their stories with unforgettable atmosphere, but this is certainly nipping at their heels, almost close enough to pull an upset and snap the finish line ribbon itself.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.75/10] (there are things I must know)

http://www.covenworldwide.org/

King Diamond & Mercyful Fate - A Dangerous Meeting (1992)

While you'd expect a career like King Diamond's to be cluttered up with scads of cashed in compilation appearances, this has thankfully not been the case. There are a few exceptions, like the worthless Best of King Diamond that Roadrunner would release in 2003, one of several cut and paste efforts in the series that particular label would discharge on the listening public like drainage from a waste station. But rather than dwell on the predictable details and rating of such sewage in my coverage of the discography, I'll instead pay a little visit to the one collection that stands to mind. Not because A Dangerous Meeting is itself much of a value, but because it was somewhat of an unusual, unique release of this type.

The main reason being that, while heavily marketed as a 'King Diamond' release, this is actually a split covering material from both that band and his reunited alma mater Mercyful Fate. I can't really imagine why the label thought this was a great idea, however, on a fundamental level it makes sense to combine the two if you're seeking to give a newer audience just a glimpse of Kim Petersen's history. The styles of the bands are obviously comparable; Diamond's shrill meandering narrative the key, binding component, but musically they were not far off one another. Denner and Shermann might have used a more broadside, muscular tone to their riffing where LaRocque has a lot more flash, speed and airiness to his approach. Mercyful Fate kept the lyrics distinct, usually to each individual track, where King Diamond is far more conceptual minded. Otherwise, though, the two brands feature many of the same characteristics, after all it's not like Petersen was trying to 'escape' his years with Fate (he'd return to them and keep both running simultaneously).

At some level, though, you have to understand that Roadrunner was still trying to squeeze money out of the acts after Diamond had swapped over to Metal Blade. The 1990 effort In Concert '87: Abigail was one such case (albeit a contractual closer), but A Dangerous Meeting is a far more transparent example of giving something for nothing. It functions in that it's drawing upon what is unquestionably the best material that either of the acts had put out, and useful to a new listener as a sort of 'sampler', but anyone will tell you that albums like Don't Breath the Oath, Fatal Portrait, Abigail, "Them", Conspiracy, and The Eye are all mandatory whether you're into the distinct, melodic speed/heavy metal Petersen and his compatriots create or you worship the band as a sort of champion of proto-black/occult metal aesthetics. And at its core, A Dangerous Meeting is a mere 'bare bones' selection of cuts from such impeccable masterworks.

Very strange that both logos aren't featured prominently on the front of the package, almost as if they wanted to market it just for the group that was 'hot' at the moment. I do like Andreas Marschall's cover art, which is instantly recognizable to fans of his work with Running Wild and Blind Guardian, and I also admire the picture of 'pirate' Petersen, in full makeup, manning the helm of some ghost ship in the booklet. As for the actual audio content, the tracks follow a chronological order, beginning with the Mercyful Fate cuts "Doomed by the Living Dead" and "A Corpse Without a Soul". The two groups aren't exactly represented equally, since King Diamond had more albums available, but close enough. The 'second' side, or the solo band tracks rather, are thicker on Fatal Portrait and Abigail than the more recent albums for the time, some of which are only given a meager presence with just "Welcome Home", "Sleepless Nights" and "Eye of the Witch", all formidable in their own right, but those records are just so damned good...where do you start?

It's this skimpy selection which ultimately rendered A Dangerous Meeting worthless to me, as someone who already owned the constituent albums and loved them to tears, but there's also a lack of rare and unreleased material. "No Presents for Christmas" is on the disc, but by today you find the song on a number of CD re-issues so it doesn't hold much importance. All the songs here are great, and it wouldn't have been a bad find for a dollar or two in some random used bin in 1992, at least for those seeking exposure to Mercyful Fate retroactively for the first time (their albums were a bit scarce then), but in the end the King Diamond tunes are just so much better experienced in the full narrative of their respective homes, and Don't Break the Oath is positively essential. A curious collection thanks to its split identity, and maybe something collectors might covet (though, which numerous re-issues I'm not sure how rare it is), but personally I find its pretty face is not good for much but collecting dust in recent years, and its best avoided. As compelling as sticking your chubby digits into some antique rotary phone when your cell is sitting in your coat pocket with a clear signal.

Verdict: Epic Fail [1.5/10]

http://www.covenworldwide.org/

King Diamond - Deadly Lullabyes Live (2004)

Deadly Lullabyes Live is a far different beast than the first King Diamond live album In Concert '87: Abigail, because let's face it: by the 21st century, the man's career was no longer one of rampant escalation, but an institution in the metal world. Naturally, there was far more content for him to draw upon when putting this together, and a lot more experience under his belt. Andy LaRocque himself did a lot of the studio mastering and mixing for this double album, which was recorded on The Puppet Master tour in late 2003 here in the US. The lineup on these gigs also featured long term collaborators Hal Patino on bass and Mike Wead on second guitar, with the seasoned American Matt Thompson holding down the drums.

The production here is a lot stronger than the previous live album, with a lot more pump to the rhythm guitars that helps balance off against LaRocque's noodling, which I needn't tell you is fantastic. The drums have a great mix, and Patino also sounds fantastic. I'm sure these selected pieces aren't the best King himself has delivered vocally through his career, and yet despite any flecks of age on the old bastard he does a damned good job in both ranges, consistent delivery that feels only a little tired or sluggish once in a great while. In general, though, you can tell that a great deal of care was placed in arranging the material so it would burst out of your stereo speakers, there is just no half assing of anything and thus it swiftly becomes the ultimate King Diamond live audio available.

So, really, the crux of Deadly Lullabyes quality rests on the track selection, which is drawn from all over his career sans the inclusion of reliable Mercyful Fate material. From the classic (1986-1990) era of the band we're treated to "No Presents for Christmas"; "Halloween" (Fatal Portrait)"; a huge chunk of Abigail that includes "Funeral", "A Mansion in Darkness", "The Family Ghost", and "Black Horsemen" (in which the clean guitars sound quite good before the metallic surge begins"); "Welcome Home" and "The Invisible Guests" from Them; and "Sleepless Night" from Conspiracy. I was particularly excited to hear material from The Eye, my personal favorite King Diamond record, and was very satisfied that at least "Eye of the Witch" and "Burn" showed up here. The Spider's Lullabye, Voodoo, The Graveyard and House of God  are entirely omitted from the selections, which is fine in the case of the latter, weak albums but I wouldn't have minded one from each of those first two.

Instead, much of the more 'current' material as of the live recording was drawn from Abigail II ("Spare This Life", "Mansion in Sorrow", "Spirits" and the "Sorry Dear" outro) and the album they were touring for ("Blood to Walk", "So Sad" and the titular "Puppet Master"). All of it sounds pretty flush with the classics, though I don't particularly enjoy The Puppet Masters as much as anything else here. There do seem to be a good number of the intro/outro tracks clotting up the set list. This is fine for an actual full set, but I think that all things considered, I'd rather have full songs if the track list is going to be drawn from numerous dates. Intro and vignettes are important to psych up a crowd, but not so much on a collection like this. In all, this wasn't supposed to be a 'career retrospective' but might have used a better balance from those forgotten earlier 90s records, otherwise it's a strong 100 minutes.

Deadly Lullabyes Live might not be a Live After Death or Live Without Sense to me, personally, and it doesn't function as a record I feel compelled to sit through as a substitute for any of his massively awesome early studio albums. Yet it's still a reasonably loaded value for the diehards with a more corpulent sound to it than its predecessor that was released in 1990. While you still have the chance, though, and while King is still touring, you really ought to get out and see him, because on CD the experience is just not the same.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10] 

http://www.covenworldwide.org/

King Diamond - In Concert '87: Abigail (1990)

If 1987 seemed a little early on in King Diamond's solo career to put together a full-length live effort, keep in mind that Roadrunner didn't actually publish this until 1990 as a contractual filler, and King had already had years in Mercyful Fate to draw on. By this point, his career was hot, with five superb studio offerings that represent one of the finest 'streaks' in all metal history, each a slice of occult horror dominated by fantastic riffing, corny if effective narration and more memorable melodies (vocally and otherwise) than you could dream of. So once King and the label parted ways, there is no question who was missing out, and it makes sense that they'd drop this to turn another dime on the name.

That said, while it does present a good glance at the formative King Diamond live experience, In Concert '87: Abigail does have its flaws. There are certain tracks, like the opener "Arrival" where I found that the leads would almost drown out the rhythm guitar, and King's lower range vocals also feel a little broken and shaky. However, the sound and performance do seem to improve as the set deepens (or rather the sequence the tracks are ordered on this disc), and the crowd reaction throughout the course of the entire disc is vibrant, along with King's own frontmanship. If you've seen the band live, you'll already know he's one of the most comfortable singers in his niche in the live environment, and I can't say I've ever seen him on an 'off' night after probably 5-6 gigs I've seen him at (with Fate and the solo band). Otherwise, the performances are pretty solid, in particular the drums and LaRocque's guitar playing, though again I wish the rhythm guitars (performed here by a stand-in Michael Moon) were just louder and more potent in general.

As for track selection, this was the Abigail tour and thus those cuts get the most attention. "Funeral, "Arrival", "The Family Ghost", "The Possession", "The 7th Day of July 1777" and "Abigail" are all present and accounted for, joined by only two Fatal Portrait songs in "The Candle" and "The Portrait". It's almost a shame, because as much as I love the flawless Abigail, I really would have preferred if they discarded the drum and guitar solo tracks in favor of something like "Charon" or "Halloween". Not because Mikkey Dee and LaRocque are incapable of showing off and impressing, but because...who cares? I actually found that the earlier material sounded more consistent here than the sophomore songs. Rounding out the list here, they've also included a decent rendition of Mercyful Fate's "Come to the Sabbath", and for a finale "No Presents for Christmas" from the 1985 single, for a total of about 53 minutes duration.

Unless you're in the market for bootlegs and such, this is really the only 'official' live album you'll hear from those important years, so whether or not King himself cares about it isn't going to mar the hardcore fan from its acquisition. Personally, I don't find it all that exciting, but nor is it bad. The times I've experienced them in concert sounded far superior to this, and the following double live album has much more to offer, though it's 14 years along in their career. That aside, this is not a terrible representation of the band by any means, the vocals and instrumentation are all audible, the falsettos sound good and there's enough of the necessary, manic energy in the song selection. A longer live album with material from 1988-90 would have been a better deal in '90, but sometimes you gotta take what you can get.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

http://www.covenworldwide.org/

King Diamond - "Them" (1988)

Landing dead center in one of the greatest streaks of recording in all 80s metal, "Them" is the third conceptual horror piece from King Diamond, elevating the Mercyful Fate crooner's solo career from the blood-lacquered woodwork into the spotlight thanks to a fairly steady amount of airplay for its "Welcome Home" video. Honestly, I can't remember even his alma mater's works receiving the same hype that this album did, and for many this was a first exposure to the shrill falsettos, airy riffing and elegant leads that make his music so damned memorable. A few lineup changes were made, with Pete Blakk replacing Michael Denner and Hal Patino taking over for Timi Hansen, but otherwise this is a pretty straight evolution from the tremendous sophomore Abigail the year before.

As for its subject matter, "Them" is the story of a boy being haunted by ghosts and his grandma, and really there isn't much more to it, though it's continued through the following LP Conspiracy. Personally, I've not found all of his concepts to be equally engaging. Fatal Portrait and The Eye are stirring enough, but I couldn't really care for such hauntings as are explored here. That said, as a musical score to such a theme, this album functions brilliantly. The evocative cover image of the rural haunted house against the withered trees and moon is a perfect match for the eloquent aggression. Andy LaRocque's leads are a highlight of the album, almost always memorable and creating added dimensions to the songs, rather than just indulging himself (even if his technical ability is unquestionable), and though cheesy as all hell, the intros and interludes work to move the story along rather than feel out of place.

But for its central, metallic components, there is not a single track here I'd throw under the bus. "Twilight Symphony" is a particular favorite of mine for the arching chorus and the march-like meter of the verse guitars, but each piece is a wonder of straight-up trad metal with an almost thrashing fervor to its grooves. For example, the intro riff to "Welcome Home" has a lot of light chugging between the blissful lead breaks, while "The Accusation Chair" hammers along below it's gleaming bridge solo. If you're looking for a straight heavy metal headbanging nexus, you've got the opening to "Bye, Bye, Missy", while other pieces like "Mother's Getting Weaker" and "A Broken Spell" take a melodic power metal role as they plummet along to their own individual climaxes. Even where they dip into acoustics, like the titular interlude, none of the quality is lost, and the result is an album of well structured dynamics.

King Diamond put up quite a pantheon of recordings from 1986-90, and while I would not count "Them" as the best of them, that's only because I slightly favor the songwriting of its predecessor Abigail and the beautiful, witching woe/atmosphere of The Eye. There are a few riffs here which don't completely stick, and "Out from the Asylum" and "Phone Call" are just too cheesy despite their narrative importance in helping set the story. The lyrics are almost all narrative and dialogue. That aside, this album is worth every cent you'd pay for it, ten times over, as is the followup Conspiracy. That a single band could release five albums straight of such strength is remarkable. With the exception of maybe Slayer or Rage (from the same period) I can't really think of others who accomplished such a feat, and that's even if we DON'T include the Mercyful Fate stuff.. "Them" is superb, spectral, and for the most part, unforgettable: all hail the painted King.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.5/10] (the old bitch is back)

http://www.covenworldwide.org/

King Diamond - Fatal Portrait (1986)

Kim Petersen (aka King Diamond) must be one of the hardest working men in all of the metal realm, or at least he was from the late 70s through the beginning of the 21st century. When his alma mater Mercyful Fate first broke up, our favorite falsetto rigorously pursued his dreams into a new solo project, and the initial body of work encompassing the first five albums from 1986-1990 is essential listening for anyone that can get past the obvious hurdle of all that damned screaming. Yes, five consecutive years, five consecutive efforts that ranged from flawless (i.e. Abigail, The Eye) to just being damned awesome, all beginning with this debut Fatal Portrait, a wondrous indoctrination into King's classy horror themes and night bathed landscapes of gleaming melody.

Petersen was followed into this new project by Michael Denner and Timi Hansen, so the trio already had an extremely solid foundation to work with, made complete with the addition of budding newcomers Andy la Rocque and Mikkey Dee. The tricky bit was writing material that could distinguish itself from the legend of Mercyful Fate, and I feel like this mission was accomplished early with the debut. Sure, you can hear a little of the groove and swagger of the Danish mainstays, but the unified concept (for half the record) and haunted house vibes were new, and I feel like the actual guitar lines had a lot more memorable, and I daresay accessible material to offer the fan of traditional power/speed metal. In fact, I'll go as far to say that I actually prefer King Diamond to Mercyful Fate overall: the former is responsible for a far more impressive, consistent body of work than the latter (excepting a few albums like The Graveyard or The Puppet Master), and while I certainly worship Don't Break the Oath for the masterpiece it is, few things can touch Kim's 1986-1990 creative spurt. Was the man possessed?

As I hinted at, five of the tracks here represent a conceptual horror story, that of a dysfunctional mother who locks her young daughter in her attic, only to be haunted by her ghost through a painting of said offspring above the fireplace. You can probably guess what happens after this, but it's really not all that essential, because you'll be too enthralled with the music to really care about the underlying messages of King's 'narrator' character. The man rises and plummets his enchanting, high pitched screams through the epic opener "The Candle", which is initiated by some amazing atmospheric pipe organs and then cast intro cruise mode with a sorrowful, but badass melodic intercourse. This is followed by the doomed taint of "The Jonah", which one might envision as some delicious, bastard mesh of Mercyful Fate and early Candlemass. "The Portrait" rips along with glistening leads and cautionary, climaxing verses over which Petersen's voice crests majestically, and "Dressed in White" persists with surprisingly warm tones and some of the best, flowing melodic mute rhythms outside of Iron Maiden. The Fatal Portrait sequence is closed by "Haunted", which arrives at the end of the album, with some unsurprisingly great riffs and solid bass work from Hansen.

Outside of the story itself, there are four tracks (not counting the bonus of "The Lake", which I covered in my review of The Dark Sides compilation EP). "Charon" offers perhaps the most easily accessible, killer verse rhythm on the album, minute melodic fills riding the cycles, a fine and fitting tribute to the grim ferryman. "Lurking in the Dark" cultivates into a crystalline vocal arch that I find unforgettable, despite this being my least favorite track on the album, and "Halloween" is tongue in cheek hilarity glazing another slew of great guitar rhythms and thick bass. It's all too perfect that the King offer up a tribute to his (and everyone's, really) favorite holiday, because he so embodies the cliches and spirit of the season), but for the record, he also hits up Christmas (the remastered CD also includes a bonus of "No Presents for Christmas"). The one other track here is "Voices from the Past", a brief instrumental with surging, shuffling guitars that start and stop to various, spooky ringing pianos and other creepiness.

I don't know that I'd consider this one of Diamond's utmost masterworks, but only relative to the followup Abigail or the impressive, underrated witch-burning epic The Eye. If you were to compare it to anything post-1990, though, Fatal Portrait is godlike, and a cause to celebrate the fact that the King was not going to suck outside of Mercyful Fate. Production-wise, the vocals on the original mix are quite loud, and perhaps the rhythm guitars just a tad soft, though still graceful and audible enough to make out. The drums, leads, bass and synth line are all quite impressive, though, and the mix sounds very standard for its day and age, which is to say, it still rules today on any stereo you play it. A few of the songs fall just a fraction below others in terms of overall quality, but it's a safe bet for any fan of Fate or 80s melodic power, speed or heavy metal that doesn't immediately cringe at the Petersen's soaring pitch, and after the staring, striking visage that adorns its cover, I doubt I could ever look at a family portrait the same way again...good thing we've got Facebook instead?!

Verdict: Epic Win [9.25/10] (in every candle that I burn, burn!)

http://www.covenworldwide.org/

King Diamond - Abigail (1987)

Though his entire catalog from 1986-1990 was unstoppable, Abigail is one of two flawless masterpieces King Diamond produced in the career of his 'solo' band. Boasting a creepy tale of ghostly visitations and potential infanticide, the follow-up to Fatal Portrait is the perfect, rich grounds for King to stalk about with his shattering falsetto and wicked tales of omens and classic horror. But the true wealth of Abigail is its abundant riffing: every chord, every note carefully laid into the fabric of the narrative, and King's best ever backing lineup in place to deliver perfection (Timi Hansen, Mikkey Dee, Michael Denner, and of course the guitar god Andy La Rocque).

"Funeral" is a portentous inauguration for the record, with King doing numerous whispered voices above some synths that swell into a classical formation before the chomping chords of "Arrival" march into the dark European landscape, grounding the wailing, ghostlike melodies that cavort into the moonlight. The song is like a circus of WHAT TO DO RIGHT WITH A METAL SONG. Though loaded with riffs and beautiful leadwork, it still allows for Diamond's vocals to lead the festivities, multi-channel falsettos erupting like caroling, malevolent spirits. If the man's voice bothers you, your opinion isn't going to change with this album, and you can fuck off. "A Mansion in Darkness" offers graceful speed metal with a majestic bridge, bathed once more in unforgettable riffing and dense moonlight. The leads are beyond elegant.

Everything inside was left untouched
Except for what the rats had got,
And the dust of time that showed its mark.
Armed with candlelight and open eyes
Through the dark they fought their way

"The Family Ghost" is one of the best remembered tracks from the album, and for a good reason. It's an ever shifting narrative track with some groove laden rhythms, including THAT riff, the one at 2:53, the one that has ruined a good many pairs of shorts in my lifetime. "The 7th Day Of July 1777" begins with beautiful acoustics, something King's band has always excelled at with every work, and transforms into a raging elegy of homicidal horror. "Omens" creates a colossal, but hollow groove through which the mischief of spirits and portents floats through like a nexus, and "The Possession" has some fist shaking, angry rhythms below Diamond's eccentric poetry.

On the very next morning
When the mist was eaten away by the sun,
Miriam grew hour by hour, and Jonathan he cried.
He knew the ghost had been telling the truth.

"Abigail" is another classic imprint into the King's discography, with more of La Rocque's unforgettable riffing and a rather complex, winding structure that helps progress the story. "Black Horseman" is the album's final piece (not counting bonus tracks for the CD editions), intro'd with a fine acoustic elegy before the powerful, glorious rhythm guitars enter, once more beneath the moonlit melodies.

This is how you build a metal record, and it's difficult to find any fault unless you're an avid despiser of the falsetto vocals employed. There are more quality riffs on this single album than most bands can produce in their career, and it's but one in a long change of masterworks produced by this creative individual and his rock solid backing band during the latter half of the 80s. Even if you're listening to the original release, before any remasters, the album is beautiful, and impeccable. Though I slightly prefer 1990's The Eye for King's as the masterpiece of his career, Abigail is a reasonable argument, more than worthy of the honor.

Highlights: Press Play. Once the disc has stopped spinning, press Play again.

Verdict: The Coffin's Waiting [10/10] (seven horsemen in the night)

http://www.myspace.com/kingdiamond

King Diamond - The Dark Sides (1989)

At the risk of losing all my hipster pull in society, I've recently been going through my vinyl to either sell off, give away or dispose of. I know, I know, I have been fully inundated into the digital era. It's a sad day in the life of autothrall.

Not really.

Well, one of the gems I dug out of the bin was this 1989 EP by your favorite Dane, a six track collection of mostly 'rarities' and B-sides which the cool kids here in the States never had on our cassette copies of his earlier albums. And it's a smoking selection, even if most of these are now available on CD versions of the albums, rendering the EP itself worthless.

"Halloween" is a King Diamond classic, though it's the exception here since it was already released on Fatal Portrait and its own single a few years before this. "Them" is a creepy little narrative from the album of the same name. "No Presents for Christmas" is another staple song, it originally had its own single. I think he's performed this one every time I've seen him live. But the true gem on this EP is "The Shrine", one of my personal favorite KD tracks, which wasn't on any of my cassettes! An excellent track with a total LaRocque rock out riff, amazing vocal lines, and a desolate, moody bridge riff with Diamond's mid-range horror chokes. "The Lake" is another decent tune, not as good as the others here though. "Phone Call" closes off the EP, basically the final bit from Them. In fact you could think of this EP as a nice little promotional tool for Them and Conspiracy.

It's difficult to rate something like this, I'm giving it a Win based on its merits at the time of release, but these days you could easily skip it since you can get the tracks on CD re-issues of the albums. So, no need for it, but it was great at the time even if just to have "The Shrine".

Verdict: Win [7/10] (There're quite a few people there who'd love to see you)

http://www.covenworldwide.org/

King Diamond - The Eye (1990)

The fifth in a long stretch of masterworks by the Mercyful Fate front man, I still regard The Eye was my favorite King Diamond record. After the hard hitting trio of Abigail, Them and Conspiracy, this never quite got the same level of recognition, but it seems people have since gone back to revisit and enjoy it. I've never stopped.

Like its predecessors, The Eye is a conceptual album rooted in gothic horror. It doesn't continue the story of the previous two albums, however. This is no morbid tail of ghosts, but of the witch trials. And it's flawless. Though not quite as hard hitting or technically endowed as Conspiracy in a production sense, each song is distinct and memorable. The mix of the record is perfect, with a nice atmosphere. Andy laRocque weaves a beautiful tapestry of rhythms and leads, ever the star of Diamond's musical entourage. The bass and drums aren't dominant in this recording, but they don't need to be. They do their job, and some of the drums aren't even acoustic, but a drum machine! Snow Shaw's drums were always so simple you barely notice anyway.

"Eye of the Witch" provides a slower paced, powerful intro to the subject material, with Diamond's graceful falsetto already providing an unforgettable chorus. "The Trial" features his corny yet lovable narration and some amazing, fluffy solo work from laRocque. "Burn" is just one of the best. metal. songs. ever. "Father Picard" is dominated by that wonderful Rhodes-ish speed metal riff lapsing into the best melody on the record. Just amazing. "Behind These Walls" has one of the best keyboard leads ever used in Diamond's discography. "Insanity" is a delightful acoustic instrumental that you will never forget. This album is that good.

It's no surprise of course that this album arrived in such a pinnacle year for metal music, really the climax of that 1986-1990 period where many artists could do no wrong as they were exploring the boundaries of this epic genre of 'extreme' rock. The Eye belongs in any metal lover's collection, just to the right of the first four King Diamond albums.

Verdict: Epic Win [10/10] (a white powder for the wine)

http://www.covenworldwide.org/