House Of God

Moving forward with a day late mid week post of something a little evil. King Diamond is the legendary mainman of Mercyful Fate and his own solo band under his name. Continuing working after Mercyful Fate split up in the mid 80's, King formed his own band and began telling tales of horror. His early albums are classics in every sense of the word. 'Abigail' and 'Them' mark the high point in horror storytelling. Even after Mercyful Fate got back together in the mid 90's, King continued with his solo band. 2000 marked the release of 'House Of God' a story about good and evil, god and the devil. Loosely based on a Church in Southern France, the story revolves around the struggle to believe in God. Oh and there's also this bit about Jesus not being dead. This album does have it all, love and death, inner struggles and the such. Always controversial in some sort this album doesn't skimp on that aspect. This is one of the better albums from the recent years for him. Worth checking out if concept albums intrigue you.

This album was oddly enough the first King Diamond record I bought. I was into Mercyful Fate and was eager to expand into the solo stuff. The thing about this album is it deals with a lot of us question. While not forcing the listener to lean one way or the other, it conveys the message through wonderful storytelling and amazing musicianship. King was an early purveyor of using corpse paint. In the early days wearing corpse paint which featured an inverted cross. Taking cues from Alice Cooper and Arthur Brown before him, King brought Shock Rock into Metal in the early 80's and made it more evil. Each release tells a story that takes the listener on a journey. Tales of Grandma and Them, to spiders, to child abuse and even to human puppets. While some call the music a gimmick, the King is very smart and defends the concepts behind the stories. I got to meet King a few years back in LA during the opening night for 'The Puppet Master' tour. A genuinely nice guy, stopped shook my hand, exchange a few words, and was more than happy to sign whatever for the fans. His influence in metal is ever growing and more bands like Metallica pay their respect to the King.

Download