Band's List Heavy Metal King Diamond Abigail

King Diamond first made his claim to fame as the vocalist for Mercyful Fate. His sharp falsetto voice could cut through the fog(he likes to use fog as a special effect, on stage ), like a sacrificial knife. He hits those high notes with so much power, that I wonder if he is capable of breaking glass, with his voice. Guitarist Hank Sherman quit Mercyful Fate, after the Don't Break The Oath album (1984).

So King put together a solo band, entitled with his stage name, and he claims that it's much more popular than Mercyful Fate. I believe it, because I prefer King Diamond over Mercyful Fate. This is the 2nd album from King Diamond. He is from Aabenraa, Denmark, which is located approximately 14 miles north of the German border.

King Diamond is the grandfather of the heavy metal concept albums. He turned 53 years of age, last summer. He became a US citizen in 2005, though he had been living in Texas since 1992. He has a house in Dallas. He wanted to become an American citizen so much, that he canceled and rescheduled a European Puppet Master tour, to take on the lengthy legal procedures of immigration. He is or was as one time, a member of The Church Of Satan.

This album was King Diamond's first concept album, it involves Abigail Lafey, who was the terrorizing ghost of a miscarried fetus. The name Abigail Lafey was probably contrived from two different inspirations. The first name, Abigail, was probably taken from the name of Abigail Williams. She was an 11 year old girl, who accused 19 innocent people of witchcraft, during the Salem witch trials of 1692. They were all executed. The name Lafey sounds like it was inspired by the last name of the famed Satanic priest, Anton Lavey. King's vocal style is to use his outstanding falsetto voice, mid-range vocals, and grimmer vocals to portray the different characters within his horror story.

The introduction, called Funeral, has a grim voice. It describes how Abigail must be nailed into her coffin with 7 silver spikes, to keep her from rising from her grave to commit more evil acts. This sounds similar to a 200 year old way of killing the mythical vampires.

Arrival is about how Miriam and Jonathan Lafey were driven by a horse driven cart(in 1845), to a house that they had inherited. This house was believed to be haunted, by the 7 horsemen. They scoffed at their warnings. This music seems more focused on expressing a storyline than it does to impress us with some killer metal. This is a mediocre song.

The Family Ghost is one of the best tracks on this album and one of the best tracks from any of King Diamond's albums. It rocks with very catchy guitar hooks and fine guitar melodies. It's melodies change very often and sound as sketchy as King's vocal changes. The lyrics are about how the couple were awakened in the middle of the the night, by a family ghost, who led Them to the crypt of Abigail in the basement.

The 7th Day Of July 1777, sounds halfway decent, yet bizarre. It's about the denial of the power of the ghost of Abigail. It's also telling the gruesome tale of how the husband had pushed his pregnant wife down the stairs to her death. This story line leaves me wondering, how the hell can a baby have a name if it hasn't even been born.

The Possession is my favorite King Diamond song, from any of his albums. It rocks with a very intricate melody. Miriam was possessed and told Jonathan that she was pregnant. He knew that she was lying.

The gruesome story goes on and finally, the dark horsemen bring justice. This is one of King Diamond's best albums. This album was a big improvement from his previous album, Fatal Portrait. But I think that Conspiracy and The Spider's Lullabye were better albums.