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King Diamond: The Graveyard | Solace In Madness

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Last Updated on 04:21 AM by Nikos Nakos

written by Giorgos Tsekas & Elpida Baphomet

“The Graveyard” is the 7th album from the legendary King of Heavy Metal and as all of his post-“Fatal Portrait” releases (under this name) we are dealing with a concept album. This was also the first album by King Diamond to be featured on the Massacre Records label. Probably “The Graveyard” is been considered as the most overlooked and underrated album of King Diamond but still it’s quality is definitely top notch and commercially this album is one of the most successful King Diamond’s albums peaking at #23 in the Finnish Charts and remaining for two weeks in the Top 40. It was released on October 1st 1996 on both CD and 12” vinyl format. As you all know in the same year Mercyful Fate released a great album too, that is the most commercially successful album to date for them entitled “Into the Unknown”, so you can imagine how big King’s popularity was in the middle 90’s. Since musically speaking there’s no big differences in all King’s albums we will say a few words for the plot of the concept.

In this story, King’s character is an employee for a crooked, perverted and immoral mayor, Mayor McKenzie. One night, King’s character happens to walk in on his boss molesting his young, underage daughter, Lucy. King doesn’t keep quiet about this, he brings it to the court but the mayor testifies that King is insane and has him locked up in a loony bin, called Black Hill Sanitarium. The opening track is of the same name and is a description of our character’s mental state and how he feels about his wrongful institutionalization; “for the mentally ill for those who have lost the will” sets a gloomy and full of desperation mood for what’s to come. On his own words “hate those men in white” is a declaration of his plan of escaping from the very beginning. Our patient’s insanity is also conveyed through King’s constant switches between his lower tones and his operatic falsetto. King sees his chance to escape and takes it.

Now mentally destroyed, King runs off to the local graveyard to hide from the police. Plotting his revenge against Mayor McKenzie, and killing people who pass through the graveyard at night, King is obsessed with a rumor that if you die in a graveyard and lose your head, your soul does not escape, and it lives forever in your head. On “Waiting” King unfolds his plan to kidnap McKenzie’s daughter to prove himself right and have a revenge on her father. A lot of falsetto shows off the character’s madness, which worsens as time passes. On “Heads On The Wall” a chimey guitar riff opening makes you think that the song is a ballad with its slow patterns. On the contrary as time passes it gains speed and on chorus we experience an instrumental and vocal outburst drowning us further into King’s insanity, especially through that schizophrenic outro. With that thought in the back of his mind and with the voices in his head preventing him from finding peace (“Whisper”) , he kidnaps Lucy McKenzie, the mayor’s daughter. He starts stalking her at school where he approaches her, trying to lure her into his lair, using compliments and inviting her to play with his homemade dolls. As himself states “Sweet graveyard here we come”. Interesting fact is that as our character evolves, so the vocal ranges change. King starts digging seven graves and in one of them he plans to bury Lucy. On “Digging Graves” we have King commitment to the plan. It all feels like a scene from a musical. Then, our character calls McKenzie to meet him at his graveyard (“Meet me at Midnight”), giving him an ultimatum:”Meet me at midnight or you Lucy will be dead. Before he arrives, King buries a sleeping Lucy in one of seven empty graves, the tombstones of which read “LUCY FOREVER”, while singing her a lullaby to make her feel more comfortable (“Sleep Tight Little Girl”). We now listen to King trying to make Lucy’s impression, crying about her daddy and her traumatic molestation. Time passes and King eventually reveals himself to the Mayor and knocks him out and blindfolds him. When he regains consciousness, King gives him a shovel and tells him to dig up his daughter.(“Trick or Treat”) There are seven mounds, and he’ll have three guesses or else he’ll kill both of them. The Mayor gets the third guess right, but King knocks him out cold once more and ties him up to a tombstone. While the Mayor slowly regains consciousness, King digs up Lucy and takes her out of the coffin (“Up From The Grave”) while he starts to torture the Mayor. King creates a court in order to sentence McKenzie for the crime he did. He sentences him to die slowly “in the first light of dawn” (“I am”) To King’s surprise, Lucy ends up pulling down on a cord that sends a sheet of broken glass from a broken chapel window down on King, decapitating him. The legend he was obsessed with turns out to be true, as his living head beckons Lucy not to leave him as she walks away with her Daddy. To his relief, Lucy takes King’s head and puts it in her backpack, promising to say “Not a word to Daddy”. So King can protect her from Daddy forever.

Highlights my personal fav “I’m Not A Stranger”, “Trick Or Treat”, the (almost a) hit “Black Hill Sanitarium” and “Heads On The Wall”.

The album generally deviates from the previous releases of King Diamond, as it sounds more theatrical, like a metal version of a musical made for one. It is a first – person limited viewpoint. Even though the lyric’s content is disturbing, chills run down your spines every time King twists into this revenge – seeking character. The record creates mixed feelings, anger, hate, revenge but you find yourself actually liking King for the bond he grew with Lucy.

* The album was remastered by Andy LaRocque and was re-released in 2009 with a little different cover (and probably a better one) and you can grab it here.

Line up: King Diamond – All Vocals, Keyboards/Andy LaRocque – Guitars/Herb Simonsen – Guitars/Chris Estes – Bass/Darrin Anthony – Drums

Giorgos Tsekas
Giorgos Tsekas
"Κάποτε Όταν Θα ‘χουμε Καιρό... Θα Σκεφτούμε Πάνω Στις Ιδέες Όλων Των Μεγάλων Στοχαστών, Θα Θαυμάσουμε Τους Πίνακες Όλων Των Μεγάλων Ζωγράφων, Θα Γελάσουμε Με Όλους Τους Χωρατατζήδες, Θα Φλερτάρουμε Όλες Τις Γυναίκες, Θα Διδάξουμε Όλους Τους Ανθρώπους" Μπ. Μπρεχτ

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