Voices From the Past - King Diamond in the Time Desert

Thus commences another metal night!

King Diamond. The Evil One. The Godfather of Black Fucking Metal. The Painted Panther of Purgatory. The Danish Cheese Master. Gene Simmon's Legal Bitch. First known as the demonic frontman of Mercyful Fate, in the mid-80s, he went solo and released a string a classic trio of concept albums, which is what Metal Night focused upon, drawing evil power from the bowels of hell and the depths of Scotch liquor.

To read the full saga, start here

Saga of the Gatemaster part 4.1 – Hell Wraith turns on

All was darkness in the workshop of Hell Wraith the scientist, save for the slight glow of the luminous stone that made up this underground portion of Castle Thrashstone. Vorthon was moving slowly to the fuse box on the other side of the treacherously cluttered chamber. Thantor the bard cursed behind his teeth and hoped both of these fools who held him captive would be electrocuted when the power surged through the tangle of wires at his feet. Hell Wraith, feverishly making adjustments to the electronics on the table before him cries out, “Not yet! I have to make this one last…OK now!” Vorthon flips the power on and the invention springs to life again. Hell Wraith picks up the strange instrument he is lecturing Vorthon and Thantor on. “Now, as I said before, this is not so much a new idea as an improvement on the Earthen guitar. You see, this is the tool needed to play a special type of music, called heavy metal on its home planet. Often this type of music is used ceremonially, to call forth strength for battles or to open gates for dimensional travel. Additionally, this type of song is used to call demons and other spiritual beings from the dimension we know as XST0014.3, or as it is known on Earth, ‘Hell’. Bloodmace, Hellmaster, Lady DeathCrush, and I all have roots on this remote planet and this is where we must go to rescue these heroes that they may right the balance that was disturbed when their friend, Demon Scourge killed them in an attempt to open a gate to the chaos dimension and destroy the entire dimensional matrix.” Hell Wraith, while filling in Vorthon and his captive has been adjusting the six knobs on one end of his guitar. When he reaches the end of his statement, he plugs in the cord that stretches from the instrument into the box on the table. A low, mournful hum widens into a rich wail and Hell Wraith begins to use the guitar to form a staccato rhythm, punctuated with high squeals and cascades of tiny notes like sparks burning in the darkness.  Thantor’s heart beat fast against his breast as the fear and anger he felt combined into a mighty force he could feel throughout his whole body, but as he was about to turn his newfound strength against his captors,  Hell Wraith silenced the overwhelming bombast pouring fourth from homemade speaker cones.

Demon Scourge wards off good

1986's Fatal Portrait is King's first solo album, and in my humble opinion, his best album, aside from his work with Merciful Fate. I'll be honest, I love Merciful Fate, and nothing in his solo repertoire comes close to capturing the  blackened majesty of that band. Except for this album. The individual songs hold up better than the other albums, which much be taken as a cohesive whole to truly appreciate. This is also the only album that is not a complete concept album, though there are five songs that make a short story. The band has a sound of its own, , distinct from Merciful Fate, though more in sync with mid-80's metal.

Part 4.2 – The Money Shot

Bloodmace explains the facts of life

The walls of Castle Thrashstone reverberated for what seemed like an eternity as Vorthon the Whip of Fate and Thantor the Bard stared mutely at Hell Wraith, who was still holding his reverse engineered relic from across the galaxy. After a time, Vorthon turns to Thantor and speaks gravely “We must seek the four masters of Waylor who can work the other four instruments. You, Thantor, are the one who must call the poor, dead bastards from their prison in XST. You have felt the power now and I am certain you are the one my vision has led me to. You are a bard, song is your craft. We need you to perform for the very fate of our realm. Say you will join us…brother.” Vorthon the Whip of Fate reaches out his hand to the surly bard who regards him with great suspicion.  “You took me prisoner and now you want to call me brother?”  Thantor’s irritation, at the powerful mystics is apparent in his voice, “You will be my master when it is convenient to you and my brother when you need my help then? Ha! Kill me now or let me go.” Vorthon and Hell Wraith share a darting glance and the robed scientist, putting his invention on the table speaks calmly to Thantor, “Let us say you will be our guide across the time desert, to the castle of the tyrant, Baron Lotar. That is your mission is it not?”  A look of surprise crosses Thantor’s visage. Hell Wraith continues, “Lotar is one of the four masters we seek, how does 500 dions, down payment, sound? You take us there and we will see what happens when you sing with a real master of this instrument.” Hell Wraith reaches out his hand and produces a bag of shining coins. Thantor takes the translucent sack and puts it in his front pocket. “I’m ready. You have a spare tauriat or are you going to fix mine?” Suddenly at ease with a pocketful of money Thantor takes a deep breath, sweeping his gaze from one of his customers to the other and continues on, “Fellas, I think we are gonna get along just fine.”

The next album, Abigail, is the one that truly defines what King Diamond is all about. A total horror concept album, the music is more expansive and operatic than the previous one. King also expands the use of  his sharp falsetto, making it more dominating than ever before. The story is also his most concise and accessible, a classic ghost story. The songs do tend to ramble a bit, leaving behind the tight songwriting of his previous band. This was the winner of the night, though I voted for the previous album.

Lord Beltane and the silver skull of Dantor

1988's Them was my least favorite of the three. Though considered a classic, I find it to be a long, rambling mess, with unfocused songs that eschew verse/chorus completely, and King's most annoying, shrill vocal performance. His vocals are an acquired taste, anyway, but go down better when mixed with his mid key growl. The playing is top notch and there are a lot of decent riffs on this album, saving it from total crapdom.

  

Part 4.3 - Words of the elders

Three. A trio of travelers, a Triad of turbulent agendas trekking across the torrid topography. What awaits this unlikely combination of allies in the Time Desert, where the gods play and death is always, always waiting. Everywhere in this blasted furnace, life is drained by heat or fissure, by starvation or thirst. Slowly the color fades out of everything that lives the time desert until nothing remains except the bleached, ghostly shroud of life, passing unnoticed through the windy forests of Jenkabala, or the lonely mountain passes of Waylor.  Everything that is except for the ruined Castle Thrashstone and it’s weird inhabitants. Let it begin o winds of mayhem! Come blow from peaks unhallowed! Let it begin o sword of Raknar! Your skeletal hordes await command!

Until next week hypersapiens…

Horns.