Label: Metal Blade Records
Release date: 25.01.2019
Concert film running time: 160 min.
Production: King Diamond & Andy LaRocque
Genre: Heavy Metal
King Diamond simply had to put out this new live document. It’s been a long time since his last studio album. Twelve years. In between came that scare when they operated on his heart, but the man bounced back and returned to the stage. King is now closing in on 63, and that’s no small thing. Especially for one of the most recognizable, if not the most striking, voices in the heavy metal universe. King Diamond is the definitive vocal oddball. Together with Andy La Roque he wrote a body of work with an exceptional musical legacy, where there’s not a single weak moment to be found. The album “Abigail”, King’s second studio album, marked thirty years since its first official release in 2017. Not that King Diamond hadn’t played “Abigail” in its entirety before. It happened on the 1987 tour, and the first official live document by King Diamond, released in 1991, bears witness to it, capturing the album performed from head to toe. The exceptional concept King set to music has stood the test of time. I’d dare say “Abigail” is probably one of the creepiest concepts ever born in King’s head, and as the “horror story” unfolds, the songs grab you with an incredible richness of old-school heavy metal orthodoxy, which holds the listener firmly by the throat and, in this unique metal theatre to end all theatres, doesn’t let go for a second.
So! With this live document, “Abigail” gets a new life on stage. The release contains four discs. Two DVDs and two CDs. It captures two concerts on film and audio. The first is King Diamond’s show in Philadelphia (Fillmore), on 25.11.2015, and the second is from the famous Belgian festival Grasspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, on 17.06.2016. The difference in sound is obvious. No doubt about that. The DVD adds a look at how the stage set works, along with the performance of the material itself. The two venues are very, very different. So, two experiences. One from a venue with a big, spacious stage in the open air (Belgium), and on the other side, a smaller, enclosed concert experience (Philadelphia).
What really matters is the question of how well Mr. Diamond’s voice has held up. No doubt. None whatsoever. He still kills with his signature “Banshee” approach. In everything he takes on. With a unique vocal performance, he convinces, enchants and carries you away in an instant. Effortlessly. From the opening scream of that trademark doom-laden villainy, “Grandmaaa!!!!”, to the insanely high passages in the closing and fantastic Black Horsemen, over a full eighty minutes of an extremely demanding and complex stage show, a chilling psycho-thriller metal theatre, let’s call it, King Diamond doesn’t falter for a second with his incredible vocal performance.
The first 35 minutes are given over to a stroll through the famous moments of the Mercyful Fate catalog as well as King Diamond’s, though the man chose not to focus on material written in the eighties. Even the first part alone is thrilling, stunning and captivating. King is flanked by the two inseparable guitarists who define his career. The first is of course Andy LaRocque and the second Mike Wead. The rhythm section has been refreshed on bass (Pontus Egberg from Treat), and there’s also the excellent drummer Matt Thompson, who joined Diamond back in 2002 and proved to be an incredibly fortunate solution. Mikkey Dee will always be sorely missed, but Thompson, with his excellence, has done his job brilliantly, and let’s hope King Diamond keeps him on for the recording of the upcoming new album, which is supposed to come out later this year. The second half of both concert performances gets more intense, since it’s taken up by the performance of the entire “Abigail” album. That’s logical. That’s how it has to be. There’s no other way. The atmosphere has to be built up and deepened, and King Diamond is one of the greatest masters at that when it comes to the metal craft. Absolute hypnosis with an incredible chemical effect, delivering an exceptional experience and hitting its peak right in the closing stretch. Simple as that. Welcome to an odyssey of boundless metal pleasures, carved out by the one and only King Diamond recipe.
A wild atmosphere that whisks you away to a unique world in an instant. An extraordinary combination of sets and the theatre itself. Flawless execution of the material and, above all, the one-of-a-kind, incredibly charismatic and piercing vocal excess of the one and only King Diamond. Along with that, an excellent teaser for the upcoming new studio album, which all true King Diamond fans have sky-high expectations for.
It’s a shame the repertoire didn’t change even a little during the tour, as both concerts are completely identical as far as the setlist goes. That’s the only minor minus we can pin on this otherwise brilliant live document. This one’s a must for every King Diamond fan, and for anyone who swears by the good old school of classically tempered metal riffs dressed up in a signature “horror show” theatre. “Abigail” has been born again, and with it, of course, that devilish little girl Abigail.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
rating: 9.5 / 10
Tracklist:
1. Out from the Asylum
2. Welcome Home
3. Sleepless Nights
4. Halloween
5. Eye of the Witch
6. Melissa
7. Come to the Sabbath
8. Them
9. Funeral
10. Arrival
11. A Mansion in Darkness
12. The Family Ghost
13. The 7th Day of July 1777
14. Omens
15. The Possession
16. Abigail
17. Black Horsemen
18. Insanity
Lineup:
King Diamond – vocals
Andy LaRocque – guitar
Mike Wead – guitar
Pontus Egberg – bass
Matt Thompson – drums
Livia Zita – backing vocals
