With his masked face and satanic songs rendered in that mock-operatic shriek, he was frequently ridiculed in the music press. King Diamond appeared as much a caricature as any of them. There was Venom, the original, devil-worshipping black metal band Manowar, muscle-bound warriors from New York declaring ‘Death to false metal’ Thor, a former bodybuilding champion from Canada, whose stage act included breaking concrete blocks on his chest. Not only a survivor of more than 30 years in the music business, but also a survivor of multiple heart attacks that almost killed him six years ago.Īt the time when Mercyful Fate rose to prominence in the mid-80s there were many heavy metal acts with an over-the-top image.
What is certain is that he is a survivor. To others he’s no more than a clown, a Halloween bogeyman with a singing voice like Rob Halford being boiled alive.
To some he’s a cult hero, a master of theatrical heavy metal, innovative and influential. In his long career, both with Mercyful Fate and as leader of the band in his own name, King Diamond has remained a divisive figure. But what is about to happens on this night at King’s place scares the shit out of Hansen and his girlfriend. This occult shtick is of no interest to Hetfield and Ulrich, they just like the guy and love his band. His obsession with the dark arts is expressed in Mercyful Fate’s songs and in his theatrical image: his face painted white and black, like Kiss, but with an inverted cross between his eyes. In one corner of the room is an altar: a table draped in a black cloth, lit by tall candles and decorated with a figurine of the pagan idol Baphomet and occult books The Satanic Bible and The Necronomicon, the centerpiece a human skull. For hours they’ve been sitting in the living room, talking and soaking up the heavy vibes from old records by Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Blue Öyster Cult. It’s been a long night, and all of them are drunk. King Diamond, the singer with Danish heavy metal band Mercyful Fate, is entertaining four guests: Timi Hansen, the band’s bassist, and his girlfriend, and Metallica’s Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield, who are in Copenhagen to record their group’s second album, Ride The Lightning.
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