A Heavy Metal Horror Movie (Abigail - King Diamond)

Member Name: Frankingsteins

Product:	Abigail - King Diamond
Date:	25/09/06 (494 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great guitars, nice concept and very distinctive vocals.

Disadvantages: The sound becomes repetitive after a while.

Danish band King Diamond’s ‘Abigail’ is a staple of horror movie heavy metal, and is the most impressive of the former Mercyful Fate frontman’s ‘solo’ releases (aided in no small part by lead guitarist Andy LaRocque and the other musicians accompanying the King’s torturous multi-octave wails). These nine very cool songs tell the gothic ghost story of a house under a horrific curse, narrated in part by the ghost of Count La’Fey, who threw his pregnant wife down the stairs to kill her bastard daughter Abigail. But the stillborn corpse intends to wreak its revenge on the house’s occupiers forevermore, and the album begins, as King Diamond himself helpfully screeches in the opening song, in the summer of 1845.

The concept is entertaining and the music strangely fitting, in a hairy eighties heavy rock kind of way. One of metal’s most intriguing frontmen, the music always takes second place to King Diamond’s extreme vocals and shock rock stage act (I can reveal that his inevitably disappointing real name is Kim Petersen), but these early albums manage to strike something of a balance. ‘Abigail’ is by far the finest and less ridiculous of these, and many of the songs still form a vital part of the band’s live set to this day. Only its successor ‘Them’ is a worthy rival in terms of album concept and lyrics, concerning itself entirely with a boy’s fear of his insane grandma.

The story is told in an appropriately gothic manner, beginning in the ‘present day’ of 1845 and proceeding in the album’s second half to delve into the terrible events of 1777 before returning to the present for the necessary tragic ending.

Andy LaRocque’s guitars are exceptional on this album, and would never sound as good again. Most tracks are led by a distinctive and memorable lead riff, while the album’s more tender or sinister moments explore equally skilful acoustic territory. ‘Arrival’ is perhaps the highlight of the album as the powerful opener (after the relatively short introduction track), while the epic finale ‘Black Horsemen’ is the album’s technical peak. King ‘Kim’ Diamond’s distinctive vocals may take some time to get used to, and may indeed be either the most incredible or most preposterous high screams you’ve ever heard, as he unashamedly strives to outdo Halford, Dio, Dickinson and the rest of the screeching frontmen that made the eighties so cool (I guess. I can’t remember much about that decade aside from Postman Pat).

With albums so heavily involved in a concept, there always comes the danger of filler material that the writer finds it necessary to include for the good of the story at a cost to the listener’s entertainment (Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ is probably the most famous example of this, ending up a whole disc too long). ‘Abigail’ avoids this, as every song holds its own; aside from ‘Funeral,’ basically an introductory set-up to the story told by Diamond in an unsettling, distorted rasp, the album could be enjoyed whether the listener gives two hoots about the concept or not. They should though, as the over-the-top horror show theatrics sound a lot more entertaining when grounded in a plot like this, even if it is pretty predictable and unoriginal.

King Diamond went on to release the unnecessary sequel ‘Abigail II’ almost twenty years later, but like all of the band’s releases since they hit the 90s, it holds very little of interest. The self-appointed King’s first three albums are his finest, the logical extension of the genre-defining stuff he did with Mercyful Fate in the early 80s before they wimped out, and should be easily enjoyed by fans of like-minded bands. ‘Abigail’ fuses the sound of Judas Priest with the manic stage presence of Alice Cooper or Arthur Brown, but ends up the least accessible of the lot.


1. Funeral
2. Arrival
3. A Mansion in Darkness
4. The Family Ghost
5. The 7th Day of July 1777
6. Omens
7. The Possession
8. Abigail
9. Black Horsemen

Summary: King Diamond's second album (1987).