King Diamond & Mercyful Fate

Dan

"Time Will Heal, Time Will Kill" MF
Maiden is my second choice when it comes to heavy metal (amazing band) I was going through this forum and came across a thread favorite 3 bands. After reviewing a few pages I must admit I was quite dissapointed with alot of the bands mentioned. Iron Maiden is by far far one of the most talented bands of all time with an amazing following, as is Mercyful Fate. In the Mercy/Diamond forums alot of props are given to Maiden when people mention bands they enjoy listening to and to see no Diamond in that thread dissapointed me. Just curious to see what die hard Maiden fans also listen to, thanks.
 
Cool thanks for the reply....Mercyful fate has Mellissa and Don't Break the Oath 83/84 If you like more modern sounding metal check out 9 1999
King Diamond check out Abigail 1987 (masterpiece) 1997 Voodoo (modern sound

His vocals are hit or miss either you will love them or hate them thanks again take care
 
I heard some songs few years ago but for some reason I didn't like it (probably the vocals). Few days ago I tried again, and I liked Welcome Home and Give Me Your Soul.
 
That's cool a tune from his Them album89 and his newest (a little more commercial sounding ) but a great album. I was intrigued by this forum due to both the knowledge and respect each of the members have and show. I like to think I have a pretty extensive knowlege when it comes to metal but i figured I might be able to pick up something here. I see you commented on my other vocolist thread, you mentioned Mathew Barlow...what band does he front? Thanks again
 
Matthew Barlow is former Iced Earth (recorded 5 albums with them) and Pyramaze (recorded 1 album with them) singer.

Some awesome songs with Barlow on vocals:
 
I have the Dark Saga album...I enjoy lisgtening to that album. Something Wicked This Way Comes and Framing Armegeddon is also a pretty good album. You are definatley right on his vocals they are very good. Any suggestions on other albums by this artist worth checking out? Thanks
 
I like all their albums, but...

Night Of The Stormrider, Burnt Offerings, The Dark Saga, Something Wicked This Way Comes and Horror Show are their most famous albums, and majority of IE fans like them. Self-titled debut is mostly liked, except for the vocals.
Other albums (The Glorious Burden, Framing Armaggedon, The Crucible Of Man and Dystopia) aren't really acclaimed, especially on this forum. Reasons are mostly: bad lyrics, overdubbing vocals, not as good as older albums, uninspired, Barlow doesn't sing on them (except on Crucible) etc.
 
Cool thanks for the info I will definatley check them out!
 
OK...bringing this discussion back to King Diamond now (there's not enough KD talk on this site so let's enjoy it while we can :) )...King is my favourite vocalist and Andy LaRocque is an incredible guitarist, so too Mike Wead. I am so, so happy that King Diamond has annouced headlining shows at festivals in Sweden and France for 2012 after King's numerous health issues. He recently played a few songs sans makeup - The Family Ghost, Burn and Evil - at a metal night in Dallas and sounded better than he ever has!

Try Voodoo or House of God or The Puppet Master or Abigail II for more modern King Diamond or any from the classic era between Abigail and The Eye or Mercyful Fate's Time. Like all good metal you'll need to give an album a few spins and time to grow in your head...
 
I have every King/Mercyful LP ever made...I am one of his biggest fans. Fatal Portrait is probabaly his finest offering vocally. Once his style hooks you there is no turning back. I have always admired him for never selling out. Andy is an amazing axe man!
 
I am glad you mention the fact there is not enough KD MF talk on this site...On the coven world wide (Mercyful fate's forum) there is alot of respect thrown Maidens way. Grant it Maiden is better and bigger but I don't know any band other thatn Rush with such as a strong following as King Diamond. He is the only artist in my mind other than Maiden that NEVER sold out and is so respected among the metal comunity. I love when metal icons such as Halford, Metallica and Dimebag give him the respect he deserves.
 
king-diamond-announces-abigail-in-concert-2015-tour


Lucky American people have this incredible gig to look forward to. King Diamond playing their iconic ABIGAIL in its entirety.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    395.6 KB · Views: 5
I posted this in the drummer's thread too but I'll drop it here as well. Great fun to watch:


King Diamond always succeeded in surrounding himself with some top class musicians. Andy LaRocque for example (One of Chuck Schuldiner's favorite guitarist) Mike Wead, they also had Mikkey Dee drumming in the band before his stint with Mötorhead. Glen Drover before Megadeth. D'Angelo from Spiritual Beggars and Arch Enemy on bass etc etc....

The King Diamond solo albums up through the 80s contains some of the best metal ever! It's a shame that some people are turned away by his vocals before they realize this.....
 
I just love King Diamond and Mercyful Fate, but it was a bit difficult to get into their music. At first I was turned away by his vocals, I couldn't hear two songs in a row. But I kept coming back to his albums because the music is so great! He always have the best musicians around him and I thought it deserved a chance. And so, after many listens, I just got used to his vocals. I don't know if "got used" is the right thing to say, I think "understood his vocals" is better. And now, I love those crazy falsetto notes! I think it really fits the kind of lyrics that he writes. Also, I love his stage show. He was always very theatrical, It's a shame he doesn't have a proper concert dvd.

Actually he's going to release a dvd of this Abigail tour that's going to start next month... about time!

So, I think people who are turned away by his vocals, should give it some more tries, because the music is just awesome, mainly his 80's work.
 
I don't know if "got used" is the right thing to say, I think "understood his vocals" is better. And now, I love those crazy falsetto notes! I think it really fits the kind of lyrics that he writes

This. If you're just listening to his albums in the background or without really paying attention it's easy to think that he just screams in falsetto all the way through his songs. Then you never notice how much he actually adapts his vocals to the story he is telling and uses his vocal phrasing to add to the "scare" and the "drama", or how he portrays different characters with his voice. King Diamond is one of those artists where it really pays off to read the lyrics while you're listening. It's like listening to a metal audio horror book :lol:
 
Back
Top