King Diamond
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
After several demos made their way across Europe (and even reaching America via an underground tape-trading network among metalheads), Mercyful Fate issued a self-titled four-track EP before inking a recording contract with Roadrunner Records. The quintet issued a pair of hrash metal classics, 1983s Melissa and 1984s Dont Break the Oath, as Diamonds satanic lyrics created quite a stir at the time with outsiders. Despite a promising future, Mercyful Fate broke up when a common musical style couldnt be agreed on (Diamond wanted to continue with hrash metal, while a few of the others wanted to explore more mainstream-oriented hard rock).
Undeterred, Diamond launched a solo project, which was almost identical in approach, both musically and visually, as his former band. The groups original lineup included such former Mercyful Fate bandmates as Hansen and Denner, but over time, bandmembers would come and go (the only constant member besides their leader has been guitarist Andy LaRocque). King Diamonds first three solo releases, 1986s Fatal Portrait, 1987s Abigail, and 1988s Them, are widely considered to be Diamonds finest, as the singer continued to issue further releases until the early 90s (1989s Conspiracy, 1990s The Eye). It was also around this time that Diamond found his name embroiled in controversy -- due to a Geraldo Rivera TV special on music with supposed hidden messages, and when Kiss Simmons served a lawsuit against the singer, claiming that the makeup design Diamond had been using too closely resembled the one that Simmons used in the 70s and early 80s, which resulted in an out of court settlement and with Diamond being forced to modify his makeup design.
Come the early 90s, Mercyful Fate was constantly being name-checked as a prime influence by just about every new hrash and death metal band, which led to a re-formation of the original group (save for drummer Ruzz), and such further releases as 1993s In the Shadows (which included a remake of their early track, Return of the Vampire, with Metallicas Lars Ulrich sitting in on drums), 1994s Time, 1996s Into the Unknown, 1998s Dead Again, and 1999s 9. By the middle of the 90s, Diamond began issuing solo albums again (simultaneously with his Fate output), as such titles as 1995s The Spiders Lullabye, 1996s The Graveyard, 1998s Voodoo, 2000s House of God, and 2002s Abigail II: The Revenge were issued.
