King Diamond
Abigail

THE REVIEW

The gloomy funeral ceremony ("Funeral") of Abigail LaFey is taking place - the first stillborn child on the seventh day of July 1777 - seven nefarious men must nail her into her coffin with 7 silver nails, one for each arm, hand, and knee, and the remaining around her mouth, so that she cannot rise again and cause more harm. Nearly 70 years have passed since Abigail's death, and a carriage accompanied by darkness arrives at a house on a hill ("The Arrival"), where Jonathan LaFey resides with his eighteen-year-old wife Miriam. John sees the seven horsemen arrive and is warned by them that it's time to leave to avoid the evil power of the mansion. However, John dismisses them and they leave, issuing a warning: "one day you will need us." John goes to sleep, and as soon as he extinguishes the last candle of the mansion, sly shadows creep along the walls ("A Mansion In Darkness"). Exhausted and unaware of what looms, the newlyweds fall asleep. However, the boy's sleep is quickly interrupted: the bed, despite the fire being lit, is freezing, and from the darkness appears the shadow of a man. It is Count LaFey, an ancestor of Jonathan ("The Family Ghost"), and he invites the young man to follow him to the crypt, where Abigail lies, because "it's time he knows." "Fear not, my friend, I am LaFey's spirit, and it's time for you to go to the crypt where Abigail rests, it's time for you to know." Guided by the ghost, the descendant discovers the tragic past: pointing to a sarcophagus, the shadow confesses to him that "Abigail has been here for years and years since her birth... but now her spirit is inside your wife and there's only one way to stop her return: you must kill her!"
Indeed, the story goes that Count LaFey, upon witnessing the infidelity of his pregnant wife, killed his sweet half-wife by throwing her down the stairs, ensuring that the fetus, which was named Abigail, was stillborn ("The 7th Day Of July 1777"). The situation is such that John's wife is pregnant and their child is soon to be born. Unfortunately, John has realized - albeit too late - the omens ("Omens") and the words of the horsemen and it's now too late since his wife is possessed ("The Possession"). He knows that the best thing would be to kill her, but he just can't. In a last and desperate attempt, he tries to communicate with his wife but receives only mockery from Abigail, who has now taken full possession of the girl's body. However, the threat of a priest who knows what to do opens a breach, and Miriam manages to speak to him, revealing the sad and inescapable ending that awaits: "our time is over. Remember: the stairs... it's the only way." Jonathan has decided, and with the intent to repeat the gesture of his ancestor, convinces Abigail/Miriam to follow him to the crypt, because "she is to be born there where she died in the past" ("Abigail"). John tries to kill her, but, distracted, he is thrown himself down the stairs, with his and his wife's death, who succumbs during childbirth. At the same moment of the double execution, the neighing of horses is heard, and the seven horsemen ("The Black Horsemen"), servants of the Count in the first murder, intervene, taking the newborn and bringing her to the chapel in the forest, where a coffin and a funeral ceremony await (and here we must take a great leap back and return to "Funeral").

As you might have guessed, Abigail is a stunning metal concept album where the horror themes so dear to our King Diamond blend with energy and creativity into the gothic fabric and black nuances of his music. Sure, one might argue that the story is not the most original, but it's an undeniable fact that the metal textures, like nowhere else, probably lend themselves to suffocating, emphasizing, and blurring the emotions proposed by the lyrics in a masterful manner under forms of eerie solos and vocals. We are faced with one of the most inspired songwritings and above all, an exquisite execution. Indeed, our King utilized musicians of the caliber of Mikkey Dee - Motörhead's drummer - and guitarists like Andy LaRoque (capable of producing a masterpiece like "Individual Thought Patterns" by Death played in a completely different way) and former Mercyful Fate member Michael Denner who succeeded in the praiseworthy task of imprinting technique, violence, hair-raising solos, fantastic and engaging rhythmic sections, all in an album where the chills are at hand right from the cover - a funeral carriage, in the dead of night, drawn by two dark steeds guided by two eerie figures with bowed heads, carrying a coffin to an unknown destination. On the record, King uses his typical falsetto at excellent levels, alternating it with croaky voices, clean vocals, and screamed vocals, deftly employing stylistic devices such as the whispering of key words of the text and the use of overlapping voices to further enhance the sinister atmosphere. Unexpected breaks, tempo changes, completely unpredictable structures, skillfully arranged solos that enrich the despair, fear, mystery contribute along with the aforementioned qualities of the work to making it not only one of the gems of King Diamond's discography but also one of the best concept albums in metal history.

In short, an incredible, technical, fluid, elegant, and evil work, not a single misplaced passage, truly magnificent and one of the few concepts that artfully meld text, music, and voice: a chilling story, an evocative and utterly believable voice, superlative music that you can't help but listen to in reverent silence, in the dark... Let the funeral ceremony begin!

See Ya!