Anyone Into King Diamond?

[paulyc]

I LOVE Don't Break the Oath !!!

 

[crankyrayhanky]

Exactly right...Mikkey Dee played drums on Them and Conspiracy/

I was just jamming along with Family Ghost- none of that is in 4/4; it's all weird rhythms- but unlike Dream Theater it doesn't sound mathematical but instead grooves really well. That drummer is playing some insane stuff!

 

[paulyc]

Anyone have a better pic of the graphic on that BC Rich Gunslinger above ? I took a quick spin through Google and any pic I find is either out of focus, pixelated, or partially obscured...

 

[Chubtone]

I have tried many times over the years to get into King Diamond because of all the talk I hear about Andy Laroque. Obviously the vocals are what put me off, but I am determined to fight through it this time

I bought Abigail, Them and The Eye based on the talk in this thread. I have had Abigail for about 5 days now and have listened to it repeatedly in my car to enjoy the guitar playing. There are some cool riffs and some of the lead playing is really good. One of the lead players does that extremely fast "winging it" thing where it sounds like both hands are going as fast as they can, but they aren't necessarily in synch with each other and it is that really fast, non-musical gibberish type playing.

I haven't received the other 2 discs yet, but I am going to keep going above and beyond to get an appreciation for it. I'm hoping the super fast, gibberish player is the one that left the band.

 

[napalmdeath]

I have tried many times over the years to get into King Diamond because of all the talk I hear about Andy Laroque. Obviously the vocals are what put me off, but I am determined to fight through it this time

I bought Abigail, Them and The Eye based on the talk in this thread. I have had Abigail for about 5 days now and have listened to it repeatedly in my car to enjoy the guitar playing. There are some cool riffs and some of the lead playing is really good. One of the lead players does that extremely fast "winging it" thing where it sounds like both hands are going as fast as they can, but they aren't necessarily in synch with each other and it is that really fast, non-musical gibberish type playing.

I haven't received the other 2 discs yet, but I am going to keep going above and beyond to get an appreciation for it. I'm hoping the super fast, gibberish player is the one that left the band.

Maybe this will help... All Larocque, Snowy Shaw, and Sharlee D'angelo, (Ibelieve). Andy's heaviest stuff! It's heavy as shit, and his most aggressive tone ever recorded. This album kicks serious ass! Eternal Sleep has killer leads! Shows off those killer vibrato chops I spoke of.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... +evilution

 

[Chris O]

Thread Bump!

It’s almost October which always has me listening to spooky shit. Type O Negative, Mercyful Fate, and King Diamond are always the first I jump into. Andy just blows my mind as a guitar player - some of the crunchiest melodic metal riffs I’ve ever heard. So tasty...even songs that really grate on me are saved by hhis guitar work. I pretty much quit buying stuff after MF’s “Time” and KD’s “The Eye”, but I’m going to have to go back and revisit some of the newer stuff. I need some heavy non-down-tuned inspiration!!

 

[paulyc]

I’m going to go look for some more of it myself... that time of year and all. Getting so tired of the same old shit, need to find some new to me heavy stuff from the old days...

 

[napalmdeath]

Thread Bump!

It’s almost October which always has me listening to spooky shit. Type O Negative, Mercyful Fate, and King Diamond are always the first I jump into. Andy just blows my mind as a guitar player - some of the crunchiest melodic metal riffs I’ve ever heard. So tasty...even songs that really grate on me are saved by hhis guitar work. I pretty much quit buying stuff after MF’s “Time” and KD’s “The Eye”, but I’m going to have to go back and revisit some of the newer stuff. I need some heavy non-down-tuned inspiration!!

Was just listening to Them, and Conspiracy. Sickest dual lead full-on assault in history, IMO. Them changed my life when it came out. Been an Andy Larocque fanboy ever since. He's grossly underrated, and phenomenal player. His vibrato technique makes the hairs on my neck stick up. So, so fluent, and smooth. It's amazing how a simple bend adds so much life to a single note.

 

[JerEvil]

Here's a version of "Welcome Home" my old death metal band did. I do the first solo break, the Pete Blakk lead. Our other guitar player at the time did all the recording and mixing. HATE the snare sound. Our drummer is a huge Death fan which shows in his drumming....

 

[D-Rock]

I got into MF after I discovered Mayhem. I obviously knew the Metallica covers and quite honestly I was blown away listening to the originals.

If you're trying to get into Andy Larocque playing, check out Death's Individual Thought Patterns, because he was the second guitar player on that album.

 

[napalmdeath]

I got into MF after I discovered Mayhem. I obviously knew the Metallica covers and quite honestly I was blown away listening to the originals.

If you're trying to get into Andy Larocque playing, check out Death's Individual Thought Patterns, because he was the second guitar player on that album.

Somebody cleverly posted all his "best leads" in one long assed video. His vibrato is sick.

 

[Speeddemon]

I got hooked on MF as a teenager, when a buddy gave me a mixtape (yes, on cassette ) that included "A Corpse without a soul". Talk about sick leads!

Loved the first 2 MF albums and the Nuns have No Fun EP. Later I bought the 5-disc King Diamond box of his first albums; especially like Fatail Portrait, and I guess it's a tie between Them and Abigail...each contains some killer songs.
My band still regularly plays "Evil", which is always a nice moment to gaze over the audience, to see which faces light up once the intro is played. "Curse of the Pharaohs" and "Corpse..." are on my wishlist to add to our set.

By the way, while I rate Mikkey Dee very highly, especially MF's 1st drummer, Kim Ruzz's style I love. He seems to be cut from the same cloth as Les Binks in Priest and Clive Burr in Maiden. Bringing a very groovy/funky feel on steroids, with great dynamics in metal.

 

[atrox]

I have a slight obsession with Andy. I have probably seen KD/Mercyful Fate (reboot) more than any other band live. My first show was the Abigail tour and then pretty much everyone since then including the MF shows. I stopped going in the early 2000's because his albums weren't doing much for me and his voice was shot.

I have not seen his more recent shows, but i have watched the vids and he is back in the game big time.

Andy didn't have much to do with Fatal Portrait. Most of the rhythms and Michael's solo's were done when they called Andy in. Andy did his solo's and recorded some rhythms on the second half of the record, but you really don't see Andy's influence until Abigail. That's his writing style all over that album and every album after that. I was initially upset when Denner quit, but Blakk more than filled his shoes.

As much as i love the first 4 KD albums, Melissa is still my favorite album of all time. This video cracks me up. even these guys love it and by the end, even kinda "got" King's voice.

 

[Norton666]

Big Mercyful Fate fan here! I still bought all of Kings solo stuff , but it never grabbed me like Mercyful Fate. The Eye is definitely my favorite KD solo album. In The Shadows is my favorite MF album. I can still listen to that album front to back

 

[atrox]

Big Mercyful Fate fan here! I still bought all of Kings solo stuff , but it never grabbed me like Mercyful Fate. The Eye is definitely my favorite KD solo album. In The Shadows is my favorite MF album. I can still listen to that album front to back

I recently revisited "In the Shadows". It's a fantastic album and much better than their releases that followed (though "Into the Unknown" grabs me is places).

I still prefer the first two official albums and the stuff that eventually became "In the Beginning"

 

[Chris O]

I have a slight obsession with Andy. I have probably seen KD/Mercyful Fate (reboot) more than any other band live. My first show was the Abigail tour and then pretty much everyone since then including the MF shows. I stopped going in the early 2000's because his albums weren't doing much for me and his voice was shot.

I have not seen his more recent shows, but i have watched the vids and he is back in the game big time.

Andy didn't have much to do with Fatal Portrait. Most of the rhythms and Michael's solo's were done when they called Andy in. Andy did his solo's and recorded some rhythms on the second half of the record, but you really don't see Andy's influence until Abigail. That's his writing style all over that album and every album after that. I was initially upset when Denner quit, but Blakk more than filled his shoes.

As much as i love the first 4 KD albums, Melissa is still my favorite album of all time. This video cracks me up. even these guys love it and by the end, even kinda "got" King's voice.

That video cracked me up...

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Geez, where have you been?! Amazing band.. even on the weaker albums the leads and rythms are always kick ass. Andy Laroque (not his real name lol) is the staple lead guitar player and there was always sort of a rotating door on the other side. All those guys were great too though. My favorites are Pete Black ( I think his name was on The Eye) and then the current who has been there forever, Mike Wead who is a total monster as well. These guys are a gem. With King's voice being back, this is a must see live show which keeps eluding me because Ottawa is too small of a market for them and they only ever go to Montreal.

 

[JerEvil]

Big Mercyful Fate fan here! I still bought all of Kings solo stuff , but it never grabbed me like Mercyful Fate. The Eye is definitely my favorite KD solo album. In The Shadows is my favorite MF album. I can still listen to that album front to back

I recently revisited "In the Shadows". It's a fantastic album and much better than their releases that followed (though "Into the Unknown" grabs me is places).

I still prefer the first two official albums and the stuff that eventually became "In the Beginning"

See I got into King on the Abigail album, so that, Them and Conspiracy were my faves for a long time. I didn't;t get into MF until well after. Dead Again, Into The Unknown, 9 are my jams. Return Of The Vampire I love as well. Would LOVE to do a version of Burning The Cross. We used to cover Curse of the Pharaoh in the band I was doing with James Rivera of Helstar.

 

[Exo-metal]

Abigail, Them and Conspiracy are all so badass. Andy and Denner, Pete Blakk, all beyond killer. Mickey Dee plays like no other. So glad I got to see them back in the day.

 

[SFW]

I wore out several copies of "Them" and Conspiracy. Andy is simply a monster player.