Artist: KING DIAMOND
Album: SONGS FOR THE DEAD LIVE VINYL (2LP BLACK)

Release date: 25.01.2019
EAN/UPS: 039841558814
Media type: LP

On January 25th, King Diamond will release a new CD+DVD/Blu-ray, Songs For The Dead Live. Songs For The Dead Live captures 1987’s seminal Abigail album in its entirety - played twice, and in very different locations: Belgium's Graspop Metal Meeting in June 2016 and Philadelphia's Fillmore in November 2015. Featuring a brace of classic King Diamond and Mercyful Fate tracks including "Welcome Home", "Halloween" and "Eye Of The Witch", before launching into Abigail, the show boasts an all-star line-up supporting King: guitarists Andy LaRocque and Mike Wead, bassist Pontus Egberg and drummer Matt Thompson. The performances are ferocious, hammering home every moment and ensuring all in attendance remain in their thrall.

Captured on film by director Denise Korycki for Wild Wind Studios, she worked closely with King on every aspect of filming, and throughout the viewer finds themselves front and center as the shows unfold. This includes some inventive camera placement, such as riding in on the back of the wheelchair as it is wheeled out to "Out From The Asylum" at the start of the show, or looking up from the coffin at the commencement of Abigail opener "Funeral", which add an extra dimension to proceedings. Naturally, the theatricality that has become synonymous with King Diamond is there in full force, making for an even more immersive experience. The gothic stage set and the participation of actors playing out certain scenes tying into the songs definitely increases the drama and the sense of complete disconnect from the trappings of reality, ensuring that the shows remain riveting from start to finish.

While the setlists are virtually identical, the drastic difference in the two venues make for distinctly different atmospheres. The sweeping, epic scale of Graspop and the virtual sea of baying metalheads makes for a particularly thrilling spectacle, King holding them all in the palm of his hand. The Fillmore show  immediately more intimate, and rather than a mixed bag of metal lovers drunk on a weekend of the heavy stuff, the audience is comprised entirely of the King Diamond devout, screaming back every word, their love for their hero bleeding from every frame. Songs For The Dead Live gives those who missed out on seeing these shows in the flesh a chance to vividly experience them, offering so much deeper an experience than your run of the mill live DVD.


2LP Content:

Graspop Metal Meeting track-listing

1. Out from the Asylum
2. Welcome Home
3. Sleepless Nights
4. Halloween
5. Eye of the Witch
6. Melissa
7. Come to the Sabbath
8. Them
9. Funeral
10. Arrival
11. A Mansion in Darkness
12. The Family Ghost
13. The 7th Day of July 1777
14. Omens
15. The Possession
16. Abigail
17. Black Horsemen
18. Insanity