King Diamond - Denmark's finest export. Love him or
loathe him, his impact upon the Metal scene, in particular those of Scandinavia
and Europe, is undeniable. After the premature disbanding of Mercyful
Fate, King decided to continue his musical career under his own name,
though ironically this first 'solo' release features almost all the members
of Mercyful Fate, replacing problematic guitarist Hank Sherman with the
incredible Andy LaRoque; and bringing in Micky Dee to drum - a man who
is undoubtedly one of the most talented sticksmen in Metal.
More bombastic than most of Mercyful Fate's previous
material (and with vastly superior drumming), Fatal Portrait still
retains the haunting atmospheres, accentuated by King's decision to sing
almost entirely in his falsetto style as opposed to varying it with mid-range
and deeper vocals as he had in the past (and soon returned to) on his
later works. This lack of variation is neither good nor bad, since as
much as one misses King using his full range, the novelty of his devotion
of an entire album to this extreme end of his style makes Fatal Portrait
unique amongst his work; and some of the best examples of those ghoulish,
haunting double-tracked vocal harmonies are presented on this disc.
The reissue also features the two B-sides of the singles
released from it back in '86: "No Presents for Christmas" (a
surreal seasonal ode to that time of year) and 'The Lake," which
have previously only been available on the tricky-to-find King Diamond
Dark Sides collection of rare material. A worthy introduction to
King's talents, and essential to any fan of King Diamond, Mercyful Fate,
or technical Heavy Metal in general.
