King Diamond
The Graveyard

"Sit down children, I'm going to tell you a story..."

I am of the opinion that only a madman could criticize the way King Diamond, real name Kim Bendix Petersen, approaches and structures each of his albums to the limit, to the completion of the last detail. Of course, the Danish singer's voice is difficult to appreciate at first impact, but once you realize that what you are listening to is not really singing, but a true performance, curiosity takes over. You want to know how the story will continue, ask questions about the ending, and hear the thousand nuances of King Diamond as he interprets different characters.

It's hard to find fault with the structure of a Diamond album, as I said, and how could it be possible then? Active in the music world for almost 45 years, 35 if you count the release of "Melissa" by Mercyful Fate in '83, the King has always been able to give a radical change to each of his solo career albums, from the more classic "Them" and "Abigail" to the more recent "Give Me Your Soul...Please" and "The Puppet Master", but in the early '90s Diamond's career was not exactly on the right track.

After the release in 1990 of "The Eye", an album qualitatively on par with its predecessors, but penalized by poor album promotion by the record label and the use of a drum machine, the fame King Diamond had acquired in recent years seemed to be waning. In 1992, however, the reunion of Mercyful Fate took place, lasting until 1999, which kept King Diamond afloat, releasing three more albums alongside his first band's albums, "The Spider's Lullabye" in '95, "The Graveyard" in '96, and "Voodoo" in '98, albums that paradoxically went unnoticed and were heavily ignored by critics at the time, more focused on Mercyful Fate.

However, if the first and last works mentioned garnered little, albeit present, appreciation, "The Graveyard" seemed not to have even been released, so much so that no tour was ever conceived in support of the album, and neither King Diamond himself, perhaps not satisfied with the work, ever performed live the pieces present in the album. Like every group release, the album is a concept whose plot unfolds on the events of a man who witnessed the rape of a child by her father, also the mayor, but the man is unjustly accused of the crime by the mayor, becoming insane, and taking refuge in a cemetery, he organizes his plan to take revenge on the one who brought him to that state, kidnapping the mayor's daughter, touching on topics such as sexual perversion, necrophilia, and a strong psychological impact.

The focal point of the album is the mid-tempos, which occupy much of the pieces, almost never boring given the theatricality with which Diamond, and especially guitarist Andy Larocque, manage each song. More direct tracks like "I'm Not A Stranger", focused on the meeting between the daughter, Lucy, and the insane man who forcibly takes her from school and brings her to his home, or "Black Hill Sanitarium" alternate with others more focused on the inner part of the characters, as in "Daddy", "Heads On The Wall", or "Sleep Tight, Little Baby", characterized by a more paced cadence, especially the last two. Perfectly managed by King Diamond, the progression of the story manages to convey a kind of suspense indispensable in the works of the Danish singer, which also helped works like "Abigail" to remain etched in time.

It's unlikely if you want to approach King Diamond's discography, you will be advised to start with this "The Graveyard"; on the contrary, you will be suggested in most cases to eagerly (and with open ears) take on his earlier works. However, this work has very little to be criticized as it was at the time, the only flaw I might find is a production not always up to par, which on several occasions penalizes the bass work, but these are really minor issues. Perhaps far from the usual horror stories Diamond was used to telling, "The Graveyard" is an album that can manage to surprise in many parts, probably resulting as King Diamond's most focused release on the mental and inner factor, unlike others.

Sometimes the most underrated works can turn out to be real gems, and in this case, at least in the opinion of the writer, we can say we are facing a masterpiece.