Listening back to Abigail, the second solo effort from King Diamond I can’t believe this was as popular as it was back in the late 80s, but I guess never discount the theatrical flair that would come to dominate the MTV generation. This was a huge album at the time, and my immediate takeaway listening to it in the Year of Our Lord 2024 is the distinct similarity to Fates Warning’s Awaken the Guardian, released the year before, rather than a now tenuous grasp with Mercyful Fate. The music is more progressive, and the conceptual narrative of a couple moving into a haunted house with the spirit of a stillborn child now stretches over the entire album as opposed to occupying a suite of songs. It’s as ambitious as anything done to that point – certainly in metal – and the fact that it lives up to its reputation, even 37 years later is a welcome surprise.

I like the idea of kind of returning to when I would review whole blocks of albums from an artist because of the whole alphabetical order thing. I don’t want to go entirely back to reviewing my library A-Z, but as something hits me I’ll occasionally return to the format when I have enough from an artist to do so. Like now. King Diamond (and by extension Mercyful Fate, although honestly they came to my attention later) have always intrigued me as coming close to the sound I heard in my head whenever I thought of “my” perfect metal as a kid: heavy but progressive, with interesting structures but killer hooks. So with that in mind let’s travel through what many would consider their trifecta of classic albums, starting with their debut Fatal Portrait.