Line #146 Music/KingDiamond


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/King_Diamond_2651444327_fdaca3f8aa_33.jpg]]
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3	Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), a.k.a. King Diamond is a Danish HeavyMetal singer who fronts Mercyful Fate, as well as a solo band. He is [[ReligionRantSong highly critical of religion]], and is an atheist in real life. [[note]] He is a follower of Anton [=LaVey=]'s UsefulNotes/{{Satanism}} philosophy, which is not to be confused with actual {{Satan}} worship, but is actually atheistic individualism combined with "ceremony and ritual". [[/note]] His live performances include wearing black and white face paint with inverted crosses, as well as using a microphone handle consisting of a femur bone and a tibia bone in the shape of an inverted cross. His own vocal style is another distinguishing aspect of his performance, for its range from low to unhumanly high pitch levels, as well as the often [[LargeHam over the top]] deliveries.
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5	Before forming his own bands, he previously played in the HardRock band Black Rose, and the PunkRock band Brats. With Mercyful Fate and his solo band, he became known for producing comprehensive and groundbreaking HeavyMetal {{Concept Album}}s (pretty much every release by both bands).
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7	To mainstream audiences, King Diamond is best known through Music/{{Metallica}}'s "Mercyful Fate" medley (and he would later appear in their own ''VideoGame/GuitarHero''), and the inclusion of his songs in ''Film/ClerksII'' by King Diamond fan Creator/KevinSmith (the admiration is mutual).
8
9	[floatboxright:
10	Influences:
11	+David Byron, Ian Gillan, Robert Plant, Geddy Lee, Music/AliceCooper, Rob Halford, Music/RonnieJamesDio, Music/OzzyOsbourne
12	]
13
14	!! Mercyful Fate Albums
15	* ''Melissa'' (1983)
16	* ''Don't Break the Oath'' (1984)
17	* ''In the Shadows'' (1993)
18	* ''Time'' (1994)
19	* ''Into the Unknown'' (1996)
20	* ''Dead Again'' (1998)
21	* ''9'' (1999)
22
23	!! King Diamond Albums
24
25	* ''Fatal Portrait'' (1986)
26	* ''Music/{{Abigail\|Album}}'' (1987)
27	* ''"Them"'' (1988)
28	* ''Conspiracy'' (1989)
29	* ''The Eye'' (1990)
30	* ''The Spider's Lullabye'' (1995)
31	* ''The Graveyard'' (1996)
32	* ''Voodoo'' (1998)
33	* ''House of God'' (2000)
34	* ''Abigail II: The Revenge'' (2002)
35	* ''The Puppet Master'' (2003)
36	* ''Give Me Your Soul... Please'' (2007)
37	* ''The Institute'' (TBA)
38	----
39
40	!! King Diamond demonstrates the following tropes:
41
42	[[foldercontrol]]
43
44	[[folder:King Diamond himself/live performance]]
45	%%* CarefulWithThatAxe
46	* CreepyHighPitchedVoice: King Diamond usually sings in a falsetto.
47	%%* IAmTheBand
48	* LargeHam: GRANDMA WHAT WAS IT LIIIIIIKE?!? TO BE ON THE HOLIDAY SIIIIIITE?!?
49	* LongRunnerLineup: His eponymous band had the same lineup from 2001 through 2014, making them a Type 2.
50	* ManOfAThousandVoices: He has a vocal range estimated at [[http://www.vintagevinylnews.com/2014/05/digging-deeper-axl-rose-is-not-singer.html over four octaves]] and makes good use of it.
51	* NeverBareheaded: On pictures (and videos) since 1994, he is always seen with some headwear. Usually a top hat, if he wears his make-up.
52	* NiceGuy: Yes, despite his (literal and figurative) image, he's actually a pretty friendly and down-to-Earth guy in real life. Music/{{Metallica}} themselves acknowledge this in the liner notes for ''Music/GarageInc''.
53	* SingingVoiceDissonance: Famous for his metal American accent.
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Lyrics/Themes/Concepts]]
57	* AlbumIntroTrack: * Several of his solo albums have an intro track, i.e. "Funeral" from ''Abigail'' (and similarly it's continuation "Spare This Life" from ''Abigail [=II=]: The Revenge''), "Out from the Asylum" from ''"Them"'', "Upon the Cross" from ''House of God''...
58	** Mercyful Fate meanwhile avoid this for the most part. The sole exception is "Lucifer" from ''Into the Unknown''.
59	* AlbumTitleDrop: ''Fatal Portrait'' in "The Portrait", ''Conspiracy'' in "Victimized", ''The Spider's Lullabye'' in "Dreams" (though it's not related to the story), ''Give Me Your Soul... Please'' in "The Cellar".
60	* AnotherMansTerror: The titular necklace in ''The Eye'' has this effect on its wearer.
61	* AntagonistTitle: ''The Puppet Master''. Also ''Abigail'' and ''"Them"'', depending on your view of said characters. And that's just for album titles.
62	* AntiChristmasSong: "No Presents for Christmas".
63	* AssholeVictim: Pretty frequent in his work, but the Lafayettes from ''Voodoo'' stand out; hell, the entire chain of events in that album's story could have been avoided if they weren't dicks and hadn't tried to destroy a perfectly benign voodoo burial ground just because it made them uncomfortable.
64	** It was mostly the loud late-night drumming, which made them uncomfortable. [[SarcasmMode Because it's completely easy to sleep, when somebody is drumming just outside your window.]]
65	* BedlamHouse:
66	** Devil Lake Sanitarium in ''Spider's Lullabye''.
67	** Black Hill Sanitarium in ''Graveyard'' might be this, or at least the protagonist seem to think so. Of course, he is crazy, but it is implied that it was the asylum that made him that way.
68	** Grandma returns from one in ''"Them"'' and King spends nine years (according to [[AllThereInTheManual extra notes]]) in one between events of ''"Them"'' and ''Conspiracy''. It's never explicitly mentioned if they are one and the same, though they most likely are.
69	* BookEnds:
70	** From ''Voodoo'' album, "Aftermath" is "Louisiana Darkness" with Salem's epilogue narration over it.
71	** Standard version of ''"Them"'' ends with "Coming Home", which uses the same four-tone piano backing as the intro, "Out from the Asylum".
72	* BreakingTheFourthWall: Somewhat in ''Give Me Your Soul... Please'', namely the final track "Moving On", as the girl (searching for a soul for her brother) decides, that King's soul is not good, says she's "moving on to THIS house", implying the listener's house.
73	* BuriedAlive: Mercyful Fate have a song with this name. Other than that, the element is used in ''The Graveyard'', where the narrator buries Lucy in one of seven graves and has [=McKenzie=] figure out in which one. It's also implied in "Six Feet Under".
74	* BurnTheWitch: "Burn" from ''The Eye''.
75	* CallBack: From "LOA House" out of ''Voodoo'' album.
76	--> This is no Abigail, this child will survive.
77	* ConceptAlbum: Pretty much all his solo albums.
78	* CouldntFindAPen: Used on the cover of ''Give Me Your Soul... Please'' to form the title.
79	* CurseOfThePharaoh: They have a song named "Curse of the Pharaohs", which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. The lyrics are basically a warning that anyone who disturbs the dead pharaohs of Egypt, like stealing from them, will be hit with a deadly curse.
80	%%* {{Dedication}}
81	%%* DueToTheDead
82	* EldritchAbomination: The beings that are revealed to be the true controllers of existence at the end of ''House of God'' are akin to this.
83	* EpicRocking: "At the Graves" from ''Conspiracy'' (almost 9 minutes) and "Room 17" from ''Spider's Lullaby'' (over 8 minutes).
84	** The two longest songs by Mercyful Fate are "Satan's Fall" (11 minutes), and "Dead Again" (13 minutes).
85	* EvilIsNotAToy: "A Dangerous Meeting", from Mercyful Fate's "Don't Break The Oath".
86	* EyeScream: In "No More Me", the titular villain removes King's eyes and places them into a puppet.
87	* FateWorseThanDeath: ''The Puppet Master'' takes the cake. The protagonist and his lover are turned into puppets by titular [[BigBad puppet master]], separated and not knowing if they will ever see each other again as she is sent to a different theatre.
88	* ForWantOfANail: Literally none of ''Voodoo'' would have occurred if the Lafayettes hadn't gone barking up the wrong tree and pissed off people whose activities may have been inconvenient for them, but who meant them no harm otherwise.
89	* GuessWhoImMarrying: King, the protagonist of ''"Them"''/''Conspiracy'' has spent several years under the supervision of doctor Landau and has taken a strong dislike for the man. Much to his horror, his mother decides to marry the doctor.
90	* HauntedHouse: Many. King really loves his haunted buildings.
91	** The mansion in ''Abigail'' and ''Abigail II''.
92	** The house "Amon" in ''"Them"'' and ''Conspiracy''.
93	** "LOA House" in ''Voodoo''.
94	** Protagonist's home in ''Give Me Your Soul... Please'', though it's unclear if it was originally haunted, or only becomes so during the album's story.
95	** The eponymous church in ''House of God'' is either this or a HauntedCastle.
96	* HollywoodVoodoo: "Voodoo" is a TakeThat to people who think that Hollywood Voodoo is real voodoo.
97	* {{Instrumentals}}: "To One Far Away" (unless you count those "oohs" at the beginning), "Room of Golden Air" and "S.H." by Mercyful Fate, "Voices from the Past", "Something Weird", "Cremation" (except for a single line at the end), "Insanity" and "Peace of Mind" by King Diamond.
98	* LawyerFriendlyCameo: The sword-n-sorcery / heavy-metal anime ''Manga/Bastard1988'' features the vampire King Di-Amon, with very similar makeup and vocalizations.
99	* LukeIAmYourFather: ''Abigail II: The Revenge'' reveals that O'Brian, leader of the black horsemen, is actually a half-brother of the original Abigail. Which is why he demands to spare the second Abigail's life.
100	* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Doctor Landau. Mentioned briefly in ''"Them"'', and becomes a more important character in ''Conspiracy''.
101	** Also Doctor Eastmann from ''The Spider's Lullabye''.
102	* NoEnding: "Crossroads" by Mercyful Fate ends abruptly.
103	* NoNameGiven: ''Give Me Your Soul... Please'' never reveals the names of the dead siblings or their father.
104	* NightmareDreams: King suffers from them in ''Conspiracy''.
105	* NumberedSequels: ''Abigail II: The Revenge'' with an OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo thrown in.
106	* OffWithHisHead: Grandma was sent to the asylum when she cut off her husband's head prior to the events in ''"Them"''.
107	* PeoplePuppets: Theme of the ''Puppet Master'' album.
108	* ThePowerOfBlood: Blood is the prime ingredient in Grandma's tea in ''"Them"''.
109	* PrecisionFStrike: From "Doomed by the Living Dead" by Mercyful Fate, there's "So just say goodbye to all your fucking angels". And "Sleep Tight Little Baby" from ''Graveyard'' features the following:
110	--> Let me see your face, you son of a bitch!
111	%%* ReligionRantSong
112	* RevengeOfTheSequel: ''Abigail II: The Revenge''.
113	* RockMeAsmodeus: This was present especially on first Mercyful Fate albums. He later toned it down.
114	* SlashedThroat: Grandma dies in "Them" when King cuts her throat open with an axe.
115	* SpellingSong "Nuns Have No Fun" by Mercyful Fate.
116	--> [[CountryMatters C. U. N. T., that's what you are]].
117	* StrappedToAnOperatingTable: Protagonist in ''The Puppet Master''.
118	* TookALevelInJerkass: Jonathan [=LaFey=] in ''Abigail II: The Revenge'', where he outrights rapes the titular character, believing her to be his wife Miriam.
119	* UpdatedRerelease: Five first albums and the ''In Concert 1987'' live album got updated CD releases in the mid '90s with linernotes and bonus tracks. Later the next three albums also got updated as remastered digipack releases with bonus content.
120	* WelcomingSong: "Welcome Home" is a song welcoming home the narrator's grandmother after a stay in BedlamHouse.
121	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Harry, the protagonist of "The Spider's Lullabye" suffers from severe arachnophobia.
122	* TheXOfY
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:Music/Music referential]]
126	* BlackMetal: King Diamond himself hasn't made black metal (his music is more like Gothic-tinged SpeedMetal). However, he is considered an honorary member of the genre since his image and lyrics inspired later black metal bands.
127	* CarefulWithThatAxe
128	* CutShort: Demo version of Mercyful Fate's "A Corpse Without Soul", which was included on ''Return of the Vampire''. The band had to constantly restart recording the song, as somebody always screwed up. As they were growing more and more frustrated and on the verge of giving up, they decided to try recording it one more time. This time they were successful, however, when they arrived to control room, [[YankTheDogsChain the sound engineer told them that the tape ran out and the entire ending was gone]].
129	---> '''King Diamond:''' "Later that same year this guy had to close down the studio. [[DeadpanSnarker I wonder why.]]"
130	* DemotedToExtra: Mikkey Dee on ''Conspiracy''. He left the band after the tour for ''Them'' was over, but King called him back to at least lay down the drum tracks for one more album, as he was not satisfied with his initial replacement Chris Whitemier.
131	%%* EvilLaugh
132	* FaceOnTheCover: ''Conspiracy''.
133	%%* HeavyMetal
134	* MultinationalTeam: Current line-up - King Diamond (Dane), Andy [=LaRocque=], Mike Wead and Pontus Egberg (all Swedes), Matt Thompson (American) and Livia Zita (Hungarian).
135	* ProgressiveMetal: While some of Mercyful Fate's tunes have elements of this (non-standard song structures and EpicRocking), and they were a major influence on a lot of early progressive metal acts, his solo albums fit more into this category, especially his [[ConceptAlbum concept albums]].
136	* RevolvingDoorBand: His solo band essentially consists of King himself, Andy [=LaRocque=] and any other second guitarist, drummer and bassist available, though guitarist Mike Wead and drummer Matt Thompson have now been in the band for 20 years .
137	* SpeedMetal: Mercyful fate were not quite ThrashMetal, but a definite influence on it, and fit this.
138	* SpecialGuest: [[Music/{{Metallica}} Lars Ulrich]] played drums on "Return of the Vampire 1993".
139	* StageNames: Listing both King Diamond and Mercyful Fate members: King Diamond (Kim Bendix Petersen), Hank Shermann (René Krolmark), Sharlee D'Angelo (Charles Andreason), Snowy Shaw (Tommie Helgesson, though he legally changed the name), Mike Wead (Mikael Vikström), Andy [=LaRocque=] (Anders Allhage), Mikkey Dee (Micael Kiriakos Delaoglou), Mike Moon (Mikael Myllynen)...
140	** Timi Hansen briefly went under the name Timi Grabber, but quickly reverted to his real name after it turned out people didn't understand, where it came from (he got it from his bass, the Gibson Grabber).
141	** According to an interview with Hank Shermann, Kim Ruzz was also just that drummer's stage name, but nobody seems to remember what his real name was. [[note]]It's Kim Thyge Jensen.[[/note]]
142	* StartMyOwn: Denner and Shermann started an eponymous project with Sean Peck (Cage), Marc Grabowski (ex-Demonica), and Snowy Shaw.
143	* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Inverted with "Voices from the Past", where King performs electric guitar instead of both Michael Denner and Andy [=LaRocque=].
144	[[/folder]]
145
146	[[folder:Music Videos]]
147	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: "Sleepless Nights", which also uses scenes from Film/CityOfTheDead.
148	* EyepatchOfPower: Courtesy of the bassist Timi Hansen.
149	* LyricsVideoMismatch: "The Family Ghost" has pretty much nothing to do with the song's theme (or with the entire ''Abigail'' album for that matter).
150	[[/folder]]

Context Music / KingDiamond