Widely regarded as the finest vocalist in all of death metal (who possesses a multi-octave range), theatrical rocker King Diamond first rose to prominence as a member of Mercyful Fate, before launching a solo career on his own. Born Kim Bendix Petersen in Denmark on June 14, 1956, the future King Diamond was originally drawn to theatrically based hard rock due to such trailblazers as Alice Cooper, and soon began fronting local bands in the '70s, including a punk metal outfit called The Brats. Shortly thereafter, the group mutated into Mercyful Fate, consisting of members Hank Shermann (guitar), Michael Denner (guitar), Timi Hansen (bass), and Kim Ruzz (drums), in addition to Diamond. Diamond, by this time, had developed an interest in the occult, which reflected in the new group's subject matter, as the frontman began wearing makeup (which resembled a cross between his hero Cooper and Kiss' Gene Simmons).

After several demos made their way across Europe (and even reaching America via an underground tape-trading network among metalheads), Mercyful Fate issued a self-titled four-track EP before inking a recording contract with Roadrunner Records. The quintet issued a pair of thrash metal classics, 1983's Melissa and 1984's Don't Break the Oath, as Diamond's satanic lyrics created quite a stir at the time with outsiders. Despite a promising future, Mercyful Fate broke up when a common musical style couldn't be agreed on (Diamond wanted to continue with thrash metal, while a few of the others wanted to explore more mainstream-oriented hard rock).

Undeterred, Diamond launched a solo project, which was almost identical in approach, both musically and visually, as his former band. The group's original lineup included such former Mercyful Fate bandmates as Hansen and Denner, but over time, bandmembers would come and go (the only constant member besides their leader has been guitarist Andy LaRocque). King Diamond's first three solo releases, 1986's Fatal Portrait, 1987's Abigail, and 1988's Them, are widely considered to be Diamond's finest, as the singer continued to issue further releases until the early '90s (1989's Conspiracy, 1990's The Eye). It was also around this time that Diamond found his name embroiled in controversy — due to a Geraldo Rivera TV special on music with supposed "hidden messages," and when Kiss' Simmons served a lawsuit against the singer, claiming that the makeup design Diamond had been using too closely resembled the one that Simmons used in the '70s and early '80s, which resulted in an out of court settlement and with Diamond being forced to modify his makeup design.

Come the early '90s, Mercyful Fate was constantly being name-checked as a prime influence by just about every new thrash and death metal band, which led to a re-formation of the original group (save for drummer Ruzz), and such further releases as 1993's In the Shadows (which included a remake of their early track, "Return of the Vampire," with Metallica's Lars Ulrich sitting in on drums), 1994's Time, 1996's Into the Unknown, 1998's Dead Again, and 1999's 9. By the middle of the '90s, Diamond began issuing solo albums again (simultaneously with his Fate output), as such titles as 1995's The Spider's Lullabye, 1996's The Graveyard, 1998's Voodoo, 2000's House of God, and 2002's Abigail II: The Revenge were issued. He has a new album The Puppet Master out now as well as Deadly Lullabyes, his new live album.

 

CURRENT MEMBERS:

King Diamond (Kim Bendix Petersen) - Vocals, Keyboards (Black Rose, Mercyful Fate, Danger Zone, Brats)
Andy LaRocque (Anders Allhage) - Guitars (Death, E.F. Band, Illwill)
Mike Wead (Mikael Wikström) - Guitars (Mercyful Fate, Memento Mori, Hexenhaus, Abstrakt Algebra, Witch)
Hal Patino - Bass (Force of Evil, Michael Denner, Blakk Totem, Maltese Falcon, Palladion)
Matt Thompson - Drums (Batcastle, Autumn Silence, Shaolin Death Squad, Michael Harris)

 

FORMER MEMBERS:

Guitars :
Michael Denner - (Mercyful Fate, Force of Evil, Zoser Mez, Brats, Danger Zone)
Pete Blakk (Peter Jacobsson) - (Blakk Totem, Geisha, Trazer)
Glen Drover - (Eidolon, Megadeth)
Michael Moon (Mikael Myllynen) - (Madison)
Herb Simonsen
Floyd Konstantin - (Geisha, Destiny)

Bass :
Chris Estes
Timi "Grabber" Hansen - (Mercyful Fate, Danger Zone)
David Harbour - (Chastain, David T. Chastain, Equimanthorn, Michael Harris, Leather)
Sharlee D'Angelo (Petter Andresson) - (Arch Enemy, Dismember, Facelift,  Illwill, Mercyful Fate, Sinergy, Spiritual Beggars, Witchery)

Drums :
Mikkey Dee (Michael Delaouglou) - (Motörhead, Helloween, Dokken, Geisha)
Snowy Shaw (Tommy Helgesson) - (Illwill, Dream Evil, Mercyful Fate, Notre Dame, Memento Mori)
Darrin Anthony
John Luke Herbert - (Chastain, Leather)
Chris Whitemeier

Keyboards :
Roberto Falcao

No Presents For Christmas (1985)

1.No Presents For Christmas

2.Charon

Fatal Portrait (1986)

1.The Candle

2.The Jonah

3.The Portrait

4.Dressed In White

5.Charon

6.Lurking In The Dark

7.Halloween

8.Voices From The Past

9.Haunted

10.No Presents For Christmas (Bonus Track)

11.The Lake (Bonus Track)

Abigail (1987)

1.Funeral

2.Arrival

3.A Mansion In Darkness

4.The Family Ghost

5.The 7th Day Of July 1777

6.Omens

7.The Possession

8.Abigail

9.Black Horsemen

10.Shrine (Bonus Track)

11.A Mansion In Darkness (Rough Mix, Bonus Track)

12.The Family Ghost (Rough Mix, Bonus Track)

13.The Possession (Rough Mix, Bonus Track)

The Family Ghost (1987)

1.)The Family Ghost

2.)Shrine

Them (1988)

1.Out From The Asylum

2.Welcome Home

3.The Invisible Guests

4.Tea

5.Mother's Getting Weaker

6.Bye Bye Missy

7.A Broken Spell

8.The Accusation Chair

9.Them

10.Twilight Symphony

11.Coming Home

12.Phone Call (Bonus Track)

13.The Invisible Guests (Rehearsal, Bonus Track)

14.Bye Bye Missy (Rehearsal, Bonus Track)

The Dark Sides (1988)

1.Halloween

2.Them

3.No Presents For Christmas

4.Shrine

5.The Lake

6.Phone Call

Conspiracy (1989)

1.At The Graves

2.Sleepless Nights

3.Lies

4.A Visit From The Dead

5.The Wedding Dream

6."Amon" Belongs To "Them"

7.Something Weird

8.Victimized

9.Let It Be Done

10.Cremation

11.At The Graves (Alternate Mix, Bonus Track)

12.Cremation (Live Show Mix, Bonus Track)

The Eye (1990)

1.The Eye Of The Witch

2.The Trial (Chambre Ardente)

3.Burn

4.Two Little Girls

5.Into The Convent

6.Father Picard

7.Behind These Walls

8.The Meetings

9.Insanity

10.Inprisonment

In Concert 1987: Abigail (Live) (1991)

1.)Funeral

2.)Arrival

3.)Come To The Sabbath

4.)The Family Ghost

5.)The 7th Day Of July 1777

6.)The Portrait

7.)Guitar Solo (Andy)

8.)The Possession

9.)Abigail

10.)Drum Solo

11.)The Candle

12.)No Presents For Christmas

The Spider's Lullabye (1995)

1.)From The Other Side

2.)Killer

3.)The Poltergeist

4.)Dreams

5.)Moonlight

6.)Six Feet Under

7.)The Spider's Lullabye

8.)Eastmann's Cure

9.)Room 17

10.)To The Morgue

The Graveyard (1996)

1.)The Graveyard

2.)Black Hill Sanitarium

3.)Waiting

4.)Heads On The Wall

5.)Whispers

6.)I'm Not A Stranger

7.)Digging Graves

8.)Meet Me At Midnight

9.)Sleep Tight Little Baby

10.)Daddy

11.)Trick Or Treat

12.)Up From The Grave

13.)I Am

14.)Lucy Forever

Voodoo (1998)

1.)Louisiana Darkness

2.)"Loa" House

3.)Life After Death

4.)Voodoo

5.)A Secret

6.)Salem

7.)One Down Two To Go

8.)Sending Of Dead

9.)Sarah's Night

10.)The Exorcist

11.)Unclean Spirits

12.)Cross Of Baron Samedi

13.)If They Only Knew

14.)Aftermath

House Of God (2000)

1.)Upon The Cross

2.)The Trees Have Eyes

3.)Follow The Wolf

4.)House Of God

5.)Black Devil

6.)The Pact

7.)Goodbye

8.)Just A Shadow

9.)Help!!

10.)Passage To Hell

11.)Catacomb

12.)This Place Is Terrible

13.)Peace Of Mind

Black Rose: 20 Years Ago A Night Of Rehearsal (2001)

1.)Locked Up In The Snow

2.)Holy Mountain Lights

3.)Crazy Tonight

4.)Virgin

5.)Kill For Fun

6.)The End

7.)Road Life

8.)Soul Overture

9.)Doctor Cranium

10.)Disgrace

11.)I Need Blood

12.)Radar Love 

Abigail II: The Revenge (2002)

1.)Spare This Life

2.)The Storm

3.)Mansion In Sorrow

4.)Miriam

5.)Little One

6.)Slippery Stairs

7.)The Crypt

8.)Broken Glass

9.)More Than Pain

10.)The Wheelchair

11.)Spirits

12.)Mommy

13.)Sorry Dear

The Puppet Master (2003)

1.)Midnight

2.)The Puppet Master

3.)Magic

4.)Emergencia

5.)Blue Eyes

6.)The Ritual

7.)No More Me

8.)Blood To Walk

9.)Darkness

10.)So Sad

11.)Christmas

12.)Living Dead

Deadly Lullabyes (Live) (2004)

Disc 1:

1.)Funeral

2.)A Mansion In Darkness

3.)The Family Ghost

4.)Black Horsemen

5.)Spare This Life

6.)Mansion In Sorrow

7.)Spirits

8.)Sorry Dear

9.)Eye Of The Witch

10.)Sleepless Nights

Disc 2:

1.)The Puppet Master

2.)Blood To Walk

3.)So Sad

4.)Living Dead (Outro)

5.)Welcome Home

6.)The Invisible Guests

7.)Burn

8.) "Introductions"

9.)Halloween

10.)No Presents For Christmas