Melissa

Beyond the fact the vocals are certainly of the affected kind - who would dare call these natural ? - they're also technically poor. Even while taking into account this is a release from an influential band and from the early 80's (the genesis era for modern metal), when were shitty falsettos ever excusable ? They're not only flat-out cheesy on many occasions, they're also low effort and evidently lazy a few times - regularly one can hear his voice break off before his highs have even finished the line. That's inexcusable for a band that prides itself on its vocalist and which entire instrumental setup is often merely background to the lead track that is King Diamond's ill-fated microphone. Stale mid-range wailing, and then Bee-Gees meets hard rock: excellent. This is just a purely inept performance. Which makes a bit of sense too... as this is from the genre's formative years, and amateur performances like this could slide, at least a whole lot more than it would today (Diamond didn't have YouTube tutorial vids or modern metal vocal trainers and what not back then).

Rob Halford's falsetto (and overall performance) sounds easily better on 'Rocka Rolla', and that was Priest's debut record in '74. Much more control, power coming through, and dynamic - as just one example. Dio on those early 80's Black Sabbath records: he makes Diamond here sound like Mickey Mouse - which he sounds like anyways. And let's not even dare compare this to the later trained vocalists. Theatrical vocals, albeit over-the-top theatrical in this case, may be excused if they're so poignant, powerful and so technically flawless and rare that they immediately catch the listener off-guard with emotions unexpected and new. At best, the fan needs to be indulgent here, willing the voice to be as awe-inspiring as they wished it was in their imagination... because, frankly, these vocals are farcical, to not say preposterous. They sound more like a guy on stage having fun at a festival, half inebriated and running on emotion, leaving all pretensions of a credible technical performance at the door and focusing almost entirely on the energy... as one would at a show - only this is a studio record, and we can hear all of it. In excruciating detail. In a general way the emphasis in the songs is put on the show, and less the sheer composition. All motion and no meat, as they say.

Truth be told, on the first track we're given a pretty believable delivery overall, with that heavy verse and its characteristic 80's rock/metal oomph. It's also a track with good drive, put together cleverly enough for the voice to come out sounding optimal. The last track, 'Melissa', is also a step up - although too little too late. For most of the album however, sections will sound like the most bland, generic renditions of early 80's metal, and when it isn't King Diamond's mouse voice claiming the lead, it's drawn out solos that seem like they're not even attempting to be convincing and just wish to fill out the space there. Linear phrasing over the rhythm guitars with redundant patterns from song to song. There are a few nice riffs in typical melodic blues 80's metal, but they are few and far between and plenty of bands were writing similar or better riffs at the time; nothing special whatsoever here; and even these seem to eclipse as soon as they're getting interesting, giving the stage to more of that bland material. Oh... and the thing about 'Melissa' and black metal: do you hear it ? So you do somehow: it's rather faint then, isn't it ? A slightly darker riff here and there, I suppose. Anyways.

Is the instrumental material on here, in any remotely imaginable way, music for the ages ? Would this stuff translate into an incredible spectacle if played in a full orchestra, the way plenty of metal bands have done with music that was fundamentally outstanding, transcending whatever instrumentation was employed ? Are those rhythm sections unique, brilliant pieces of song-writing - or music merely acting out some droll aesthetic ? It certainly can feel like the latter. It's really rather vague, approximate with what it's attempting to depict. The music is broadly melodic but not in any one kind of way (not particularly sorrowful, uplifting, dark...). It's not even that catchy, compared with other stuff that came out around that time. It's also focused on sounding energetic; an energy that feels counter-productive given how repetitive it is. It distinctly sounds like energy that consumes itself by never coming off the beaten path of mundane hard rock/metal commonality. After a few tracks it comes across as lacking enthusiasm, and as if out of puff. A bit cold, nearing apathy, and at times, simply dull. Finally, since this is upheld as classic metal: is there a handful of riffs on this that really stand out, of a caliber close to prime Metallica, Slayer, Pantera or Iron Maiden records ?