Them, Conspiracy and Abigail are my favourites. His lyrics are just awesome on those three.

Priest, do you remember King the LOONY ONE?
The one who killed his grandma, up on the HILLLLLLLL
Yes I do!

And there are a plethora of other lines that scream awespmeness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV0PNw9S4EM

How about CLOVEN HOOF - "A Sultan's Ransom" or WITCH CROSS - "Fit for Fight"?

I can't really get into any King Diamond album after The Eye. I might have to try harder, though.

How about CLOVEN HOOF - "A Sultan's Ransom" or WITCH CROSS - "Fit for Fight"?[/quote]

Perfect, thanks!

Hey Temple whats going on with the new album? If you don't mind me asking.

The Graveyard is really good! Incredibly dramatic and not as tight as the records before it.

My favorite overall though is The Puppet Master which I find incredibly sensitive to mood and well delivered, every nuance, every phrase. Strong songwriting and very dynamic.

Abigail is a masterpiece, of course. Never gets old and I like "Them" too but songs like "Tea" and the intro to "Welcome Home"
make me laugh more than creep me out.

Question about "Omens" off "Abigail", does anyone else notice the blatant thievery of the "Satan's Fall" riff.

I've always thought that riff sounded like Immigrant Song.

Guys this song reminds me some other:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ttNmcwh3qA
I think the refrain has some melody I have heard elsewhere - anybody can help me out of this?

Hey man, it's going slowly but surely. We've had some big setbacks. Our rhythm guitarist just quit so I have to record all the rhythms. That's OK though because I wrote all the songs anyway. I just need to practice them and get them up to speed again. Drums are done, working on guitars now ...

They both do. The main riff of "Satan's Fall" is a slightly altered and much sped up version of the one from "Immigrant Song". In turn, the intro/break riff of "Omens" is a slightly slowed down and much altered variant of the one from "Satan's Fall".

'Abigail' is easily my favorite KD album. Granted, nothing will ever top 'Don't Break the Oath', but this is as close as it gets to matching it.

"Them"!
I love all the songs and the playing is the best the band has ever been. King Diamond is a great storyteller and somehow his horror tales always capture my attention even though it tended to get formulaic with his later albums. In The Graveyard and The Puppet Master, his character is on a mission of some sort, always driven by love. And there's a damsel in distress always. Lucy in The Graveyard and Victoria in The Puppet Master. Not very original there, King.

Abigail on the other hand still retains its freshness to this day and the sequel was great too.

I have found out myself. It is this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00edr0S06nQ

I actually think Abigail is pretty overrated. It's still really good, but everyone seems to put it on this high pedestal, far above the rest of his solo material, and I just don't agree. I'd put Fatal Portrait, Abigail, Conspiracy, and The Eye on the same level, and maybe even one of the best of the later ones like The Spider's Lullaby or Voodoo too. I think Abigail still has a lot of leftover popularity as it was definitely the most timely of his albums.

For me Abigail receives "pedestal status" because it's one of those albums that I refuse to put on with any distractions. It feels very "whole" or "complete", and I get that same complete emotional drain when it's over. I fucking LOVE Fatal Portrait, The Eye, and Conspiracy, but I don't get that same transcendent feeling from them.

I've actually been jamming Time a lot these past few weeks. I'd argue that it's better than a gang of KD's 90s works. It's not overlong, has a solid guitar tone, isn't caged to any specific concept, and in general seems to be written with extreme catchiness in mind.

My favorite King Diamond album is that one with the ghost/horror story and high pitched wails. You know which one I'm talking about, right?

Honestly, I love Melissa and DBTO. Melissa for it's dated yet timeless 70s sound and DBTO for it's cavernous and hellish atmosphere. I never really cared for Fatal Portrait. It's not bad by any means, but it sounds like a band that's a bit unsure of what it wants to do. Which is odd considering 3/5 of the group were already in MF for a number of years. Abigail really is a classic in all sense of the word. The solo that closes out the album is one of my favorites of all time. Them I like, but Conspiracy ranks much higher for me. It might not have GRANDMAAAA, but I think it's stronger overall. The Eye is great and I enjoy the rest for what they are. Some are better than others, the only real standout for me is the Puppet Master. Love that one too. Has it really been almost 6 years since King released an album? I know he's had his health problems, but it still feels strange considering he had a pretty consistent release schedule until 2003.

Oh, I just assumed we were all skipping over the two legendary albums because everyone loves them. Don't Break the Oath may be the most perfect of all albums. Come to the Sabbath never ceases to amaze me.

It was 'conspiracy' that finally got me into KD/MF. Something about that album pulled me right in. But it is amusing to me how I first enjoyed the homage bands before the real deal.

Well yeah, I don't really count the first two MF albums in the same category as later MF releases, even though some of them are really good. They're closer to KD solo material, I think.



I've heard a lot of people say that Fatal Portrait sounds tentative or whatever, and I really just don't agree. The songwriting is simpler than in Abigail and the subsequent albums (especially Conspiracy), but it's also a fuck of a lot catchier. It's very stripped-down compared to the later, more ambitious material, and in this case it makes it more effective I think. Just speaking personally here, I can put on any Fatal Portrait song at any time and immediately be rocking the fuck out, while for pretty much every other King Diamond albums I have to be in a certain mood and concentrate somewhat during listening because of the story or the whole thing just fades into the background. On the other hand the hooks in Fatal Portrait are just gigantic and COMMAND me to ROCK no matter what I'm doing. Nothing about it seems half-baked at all, it's just a bit of a transition between the catchier, simpler, song-oriented Mercyful Fate albums and the later, more conceptual and complex KD solo material. Sometimes transition works against a band, but in this case I think it actually works out in Fatal Portrait's favor, giving it the best of both worlds.

I wouldn't say King Diamond is more complex than the first two Mercyful Fate albums, myself. I consider stuff like 'The Oath' and 'Satan's Fall' to be a fair bit more complex than any KD stuff I can think of. That, and the fact that MF tend to put 4 times as many riffs in any given song when compared to anyone else (or at least it seems that way). King Diamond does seem maybe more superficially complex, though, what with Andy's crazy shred solos and the prog metal influence creeping in. I guess Fatal Portrait is making a bit of a tentative release in that it does mix stand-alone songs with a conceptual suite at the end, as if King was testing the waters there.

I meant complex in terms of song and album structure. Not knocking Mercyful Fate at all, but Abigail, Them, and Conspiracy especially featured some pretty complex song structures, and of course the whole concept album thing. Mercyful Fate tended toward simpler structures, with a few exceptions (Satan's Fall being an obvious one). Melissa and Don't Break the Oath were more riff-centric though, no denying that. To be honest unlike a lot of people around here I don't consider those first two Mercyful Fate albums to be unequivocally better than King Diamond's solo material; they have different strengths and scratch different itches, so to me it doesn't make a lot of sense to stack them up against each other like that. Especially once King's concept approach was solidified in Abigail, it was clear he was interested in attracting people more through mood, story, and atmosphere than headbanging ecstasy, and chances are without Shermann he wouldn't have been able to do the latter as well anyway. Mercyful Fate won't satisfy me when I'm in a King Diamond mood, King Diamond won't satisfy me when I'm in a Mercyful Fate mood, and I seem to experience each mood about equally.

In the Shadows is my favourite Mercyful Fate album after Melissa. That album is just really cool.

But yes, I prefer Diamond's solo stuff to Mercyful fate.

Inspired to listen to Fatal Portrait by this thread, it occurred to me that Mercyful Fate wrote really strong independent songs, so their albums have more of the feeling of an aggregation of tracks -- in a way, a thematic collection of short stories. Whereas the King Diamond solo material has the layout and pacing of a full book; taken out of context, an individual track might not have the same punch as something off Don't Break The Oath, but is seen in its proper light with its proper neighbors adjoining. Exceptions will be made for such tracks as 'Charon'.

and 'The Family Ghost'

and 'A Mansion In Darkness'

and 'Abigail'

and 'Welcome Home'

and 'The Invisible Guests'

and 'Sleepless Nights'

and 'Eye of the Witch'

and 'Burn'

and 'Up From The Grave'

really, the man has a ton of great songs that don't necessarily have to be driven by the entire conceptual narrative to be assimilated as singular enjoyable songs. The Puppet Master is the album I feel was more intended to be understood better as a complete piece.

I am loving The Graveyard more and more although the reviews of autothrall, natrix and others would have you believe it is far from good;
http://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/K ... yard/1181/

Even The Puppet Master has "Blood to Walk", which is actually one of my favorite King Diamond songs. Just insanely catchy, with one of his most memorable riffs. THAT'S ENOUGH FOR TODAY! PUT THEM AWAY!

If we're gonna talk about the best individual KD songs, then we gotta mention At the Graves; an epic, creepy, and badass nine minute long metal frenzy. Really, the first time I listened to Conspiracy I must have replayed it at least five times (and yes, that's around 45 minutes), and..... You know what? I'm gonna put it on now, because damn.

No mention of "The Portrait," "Black Horsemen," or "Room 17"?! Y'all's crazy.

My favourite KD songs tend to have extended Michael Denner solo parts: 'Dressed in White' and, of corpse, 'Black Horsemen' (the outro solo regularly gets mentioned as peoples' favourite solo, for good reason, too).

Yeah, like I mentioned a bit earlier, that one's my favorite, too. It gives the entire album such an timeless and memorable finish, and it--wait a minute...

/groan

The solo in Victimized is really nice, after the 'we must go, and do what must be done' line. It's very short but pleasing to my ears.

I also like the solo in Tea (the floaty one towards the end of the track).

"Conspiracy" is the best King Diamond record. Every song on there is fucking memorable and the guitar work is the most furious it has ever been. The soloing in "Sleepless Nights" is incredibly tasty. I love the story too, which of course starts in "Them" but the best KD tale would have to be "Abigail".

Oh man, Black Horsemen. I love the solo tone on that album. It gives the fast picking runs a really brutal sound. The two most timeless songs King has sung for me are A Dangerous Meeting and Come To The Sabbath. Satanic menace and legendary riffs!

Changing the subject, the guys from Wrathblade just directed me to this new Greek Band, SACRAL RAGE. Total USPM worship, this tune is fucking deadly. Sounds like straight-up late 80's USPM, but with a more modern production. Man, these vocals are awesome, total wailing banshee style like early Rick Miyathisin, John Cyriis etc etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRFbb7U62ow

Whoa, I hear a lot of Vicious Rumors in some of those riffs, too. Definitely a band to keep an eye on. For the record, Wrathblade are really cool too, sort of like epic Greek heavy metal + USPM + a touch of epic doom. Gotta love those Greeks!

Yeah It's cool, I'm getting some Slauter Xstroyes vibes too, at least from the vocals.

The Greeks know their shit! That sounds awesome. Very cool and interesting for a Greek band to pay homage to the USPM style.

Did I miss it or has the thread so far glossed over the fact that Jag Panzer are playing Keep it True in 2014 with Joey Tafolla?

I've been checking the older pages of this topic again which gave me the idea I'm missing out a lot of the classc 80's USPM stuff - so I copied 2 posts (which were uspm lists made by...dunno, one of the uspm nerds here ) so for now I got enough stuff to check.

I just listened to Agent Steel's debut. It sounds pretty good so far. ''Bleed for the Godz'' has the best vocal lines I've reconized so far - funny enough this guy reminds me a bit of King Diamond on ''Taken by Force''.

I gave Slauter Xstroyers' (freakin' band name, I thought they were called slaughter xstroyers ) Free the Beast a chance. It's...exciting to say atleast. Lots of crazy shrieking on that record combined with groovy progressive riffing that shows up out of nowhere. Definitely need to hear this record many more times to find out if it's my thing after all. But hey, it's pretty interesting and if anything reminds me of a crazier Crimson Glory. (e.g on ''Eternal World'')

That's an interesting comparison. Hadn't made the connection myself, but can see where you're coming from. In any case, it's probably worth giving further listens, there's no albums more metal than Free the Beast.


To be fair, at this point it's probably bigger news if Jag Panzer aren't at KIT.

Hey, this is pretty decent. The vocals in particular I really like; crazy, wild, and unhinged. There's a little problem though; the pace. I don't know why, but I believe the song would seriously benefit from going just a bit faster. I have no complaints about anything beyond that. Still, all in all, this is cool. I'll try to keep an eye on these guys.