Customer Reviews

Fatal Portrait

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I loved Mercyful Fate,but I had it pretty lucky.I had an older sister that introduced me to bands like KISS,Iron Maiden,and Judas Priest as well as some of the more alternative flavored music from the 80's and late 70's,but I discovered Mecyful Fate all on my own,and was disheartened when I heard they had broken up.But a year later,out came his No Presents For Christmas single,and a few months down the road,it happened..King Diamond's first solo album,Fatal Portrait.I was just eleven,but it had as much an affect on me as did the Ramones or Dead Kennedys.Fatal Portrait is one of those albums that from the beginning grabs you by the short curlies and drags you forward in such a rush of ecstasy that its hard not to tell all your friends about it the moment its over.The opener The Candle begins with spooky synthesizers and a spoken word piece that I can still remember to this day..Seven years have gone..It can no longer be left undone.So the songe begins,and so began a career of creativity that is hard to measure in impact in the metal community,whethr it be traditional or black metal you speak of.I truly enjoyed this album,and so will anyone either previously familiar with either Mercyful Fate or King Diamond,or just becoming familiar with his work.This is my favorite King Diamond album,and it still gives me goosebumps to this day when I listen to it.Some of the best songs on the album are the catchy singalong Halloween which will have you singing glass in hand,or the perfectly melancholy The Lake,not originally available on the release back in '86..And as others have said,No Presents For Christmas will instantly be any headbanger's favorite christmas tune..Every year I make a loop copy of the song on disc and sneak into my local Wal-Mart and sneakily slide it into the stereo that constantly belts out cheesy xmas music.I'm sure there's some old lady banging her head right now to King Diamond thanks to me and my yearly mission..Buy Fatal Portrait..You won't be disappointed..

It's fun! It's freaky! It's funky! It's Insaaaaaaaaaaane! It's King Diamond's debut, Fatal Portrait! You can't call yourself a King Diamond fan and not own this. Most of what I read says that Abigail is when they truly found their sound, but whether the sound is found or not, this album is great. Off the top of my head I can't even think of one filler song on here, though some may disagree. As his career went on, King Diamond would use multiple singing voices on his albums, but on this one he's using the trademark falsetto about 98% of the time. You have to be some kind of communist schmuck if you're not singing along with this catchy tunes by the end of the song. Very highly recommended.

When I first heard King was putting out a solo record I cringed. Thinking back to the days when my then favorite band, Kiss, put out solo records, I reluctantly bought and listened to it hoping it wouldn't be a massive disappointment. I was very wrong. I was simply amazed at how well King performed many of the instrumentals himself. As usual the vocals were spectacular. King would later put together a band to do his solo records and many of the records were very good, Abigail being the best. If you like King and want to hear his best solo stuff start with this record and then get Abigail you will be very happy you did as they are two of his best.

I just love this album. I heard "Halloween" on ZROCK many years ago and couldn't believe someone was this extreme with his voice and satanic with his image. I was immediately hooked and had to find out more (not to mention hear more) from this artist. I can't understand why some people can't understand that this is one of King Diamond's best records?! Let me clarify. This is not IN ANY WAY a moderate effort. I do like Abigail as a whole just oh so very SLIGHTLY better but, Fatal Portrait with the songs "Haunted", "The Jonah", "The Portrait" and "Lurking in the Dark" just wipes the floor with almost anything I've heard from anyone. Fatal Portrait also contains the song "Charon" which just plain jams! It is my favorite KD song. Haa I used to highly anticipate side two of the tape because "Charon" started it out. If you're wondering about King Diamond (and you probably are since you're reading this) you probably already know about the extremeniss of his voice and are not bothered by it, check out Fatal Portrait and the equally powerful Abigail. You won't be disappointed. And if you really like powerful and heavy check out what should be your new favorite album, Testament ~ The Gathering ;) Tell everyone!

While not his best effort, it's definitely one of his more solid albums. Sure "Fatal Portrait" and his 3rd release "Them" or anything to the present, pale in comparison to "Abigail". This album is very important to the King Diamond canon, his first solo release after Mercyful Fate's break up (initial, anyways). "Fatal Portrait" for all intensive purposes, is basically another MF album in it's sound and writing...however the first 4 tracks (The Candle, The Jonah, The Portrait, Dressed in White) and the original album ender 'Haunted' are one concept story, which I will not divulge...but it's a sign of things to come. King didn't do a full concept album here, I guess the thinking was, if it didn't work out, they'd stick to the normal one-song routine (i.e. the rest of the album). The real value of "Fatal Portrait" is the simple fact that it's a transitional album...a great example of "what was, and what shall be". This album is certainly the heaviest of his solo output...music wise though, it's sounds more creative than Mercyful Fate...and the biggest shift is in the lyrics, it's no longer "Satan this, and Satan that" all the time, which is a breath of fresh air.

Okay, my final thoughts...this is an album that's worthy of any collection. A very good starting point that gives the listener both worlds (MF and KD). Storyline is great! HOWEVER....if you're a new fan of King Diamond, but don't like Mercyful Fate yet, then I wouldn't suggest this as the starting point to KD recordings. For those people that are here reading this, my suggestion to you is "Abigal" or "Them"...then try this one a little later. Rock on!

This is another killer solo King Diamond album with a punch. Once again the imagery, atmosphere presented by the music, the storytelling, riffs and vocals are excellent. Every King Diamond album has a unique quality to it and this one is a fine staple of metal/rock music.

If You like Mercyful Fate this is the best king CD.
The remastered CD sounds so much better than the 1986 version.

Considering how much of a "Metal" cd this is, there are tons of involved harmonies, lyrical cadenzas, and advanced chord structures and melodies. Granted, much of "Fatal Portrait" doesn't stray far from the Mozart-perfected I-V and I-IV structures, but when the ole' question-answer melodies DO pop up (mostly in the riffs and vocal melodies) they tend to make the less formulaic additions stand out more.

Most of this cd is Essential Metal: The Jonah, Candle, Dressed in White, Charon, Lurking In the Dark, the Portrait...these are all outstanding Metal Classics that stand up with much of the best of, say, Judas Priest and Manowar.

Even the more-Weenie-than-Hallow track, "Halloween" can be enjoyed as simple fun.

King's vocals are at times irritating, but his vocal melodies work triumphantly with the rest of the music, making this a course in Metal Composition 101. One can hear the tie-in that King's releases from Fatal Portrait to Them had musically with other, just-as-intricate Metal Masterpieces like Metallica's Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets, Malmsteen's Rising Force, and many others.

If this helps, I recall hearing Iron Maiden's Somewhere in Time shortly after I first got this release, and feeling a little sorry for Iron Maiden.

To this day, as terrific as both Abigail and Melissa are, I rank this second only to Don't Break the Oath as Kind Diamond's best project.

If your a fan of Mercyful Fate, and beleive "Don't Break The Oath" is a masterpiece, than this is Diamonds best solo release! Fatal Portrait, more than any other Diamond solo release, sounds like Mercyful Fate (thats a good thing!) If your like me, and you think albums like Abigail and Them are are silly attempts at "wanna-be" Stephen King writing and annoying horror vocals, again, Fatal Portrait is the Diamond album to own. Forget the concept albums and give me a heavy metal classic!

Simply put this album is in my opinion the very best of the older Diamond/Fate stuff. Songs like Charon and Portrait truly sum up what King Diamond is all about, over the top vocals, screaming guitar rifts and a [good] story! All of his albums seem to sound different, perhaps that's his intention with the ever changing band members, and this one represents some of the cleanest guitar and best head banging music that the great King has ever given us! I've got every one of the King Diamond and Mercyful Fate albums and for the pre 1990 era I play this one more than any other! I'd highly recommend this one to anyone who's ready to embrace some very hard and heavy early Diamond!