King Diamond: Conspiracy (1989)

I am slowly working towards having all of the Mercyful Fate/King Diamond albums.  I have added probably five or six in the last year after previously just having the truly legendary albums like Melissa and Abigail.  There were a few more in my collection than that, I am just using those two as examples.

I really have no idea what to say about the music on a King Diamond album at this point.  It is fucking fantastic, as usual.  This album has a lot of great riffs and solos as Andy LaRocque and Pete Blakk form a truly exceptional guitar duo.  King's vocals are extremely powerful on this album as well.  He seems to have hit his prime by the time this album came around, with full control of his soaring falsetto to go along with his deeper wails.  One definitely knows what to expect from the music on a King Diamond album, and thus far, there has never been a real disappointment.

Where I can spend some time is talking about the story on the album.  Conspiracy is the sequel story to "Them", which was the story of a fictionalized King and his mentally ill grandmother who communicates with the dead.  Along the way, his sister dies mysteriously.  This album finds King returning to his grandmother's house in an effort to claim his inheritance, but his mother is plotting against him to claim the house herself.  It is a compelling story and I do wonder why no one has decided to make a film about any of the King Diamond or Mercyful Fate concept albums.

King Diamond never disappoints and this is actually one of the better albums from a musical standpoint, which really is saying something.  I am continuing on in my efforts to obtain the albums from this metal legend.