Denial of God: The Hallow Mass (2019)

Being a metal band from Denmark, I suppose it is only natural that there be a heavy Mercyful Fate/King Diamond influence in the music.  For some reason, Denial of God has been around since the early 1990's in some form or another, and yet this is just their third full-length album, and yes, the MF/KD influence is strong.

Most of the songs here are lengthy but they excel at crafting a distressing and eerie atmosphere.  This is coupled with songwriting reflecting horror thematic elements.  The result is a terrific album for Halloween or the soundtrack for a horror book.  I am finding it fits in well with the book I am currently reading.  The MF/KD influence is shown through the usage of classic metal elements shining through the black metal tremolo riffing. 

The album is surprisingly dynamic.  There are some truly heavy songs, but there are also some tracks that sound downright maudlin, such as the grotesque and disturbing but strangely heart-wrenching "Undead Hunger". 

I was very impressed with my first foray into Denial of God.  I will be checking out more of their material.

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. 

Mercyful Fate: Into the Unknown (1996)

The last couple of years I have made a concerted effort to start picking up some of the missing albums in my collection from Mercyful Fate and King Diamond.  The title track from this album was actually the first Mercyful Fate song I had ever heard.  It appeared on a Metal Blade compilation that I picked up some time in college.  At the time, I was not sure what I was hearing.  King's voice was unlike anything I had ever heard.  Eventually though, I got into it.  But it took a long time before I ventured past the landmark albums.  Which brings me to this album.

The mid 1990's were largely considered a bleak time for true heavy metal.  That was not true for Mercyful Fate, who reunited in 1993 after a nine-year hiatus in which King Diamond focused on his solo career.  His solo career did not end though, King managed to work with both bands simultaneously. 

Unlike many Mercyful Fate/King Diamond albums, this is not a concept album.  Rather, it is a collection of short horror stories, involving pirates, ghosts and of course some Lovecraft.  Musically, this is not one of the best Mercyful Fate albums, but it is still damn good.  Denner and Shermann throw out some damn good riffs and some amazing solos.  A lot of the songs are terrific with the kind of energy that the band rose to stardom playing.  The title track is the big highlight, but "The Uninvited Guest" and "Holy Water" also grab attention. 

Even a lesser Mercyful Fate album is still better than a lot of albums and that is definitely the case here.  This one does not hold up to Don't Break the Oath or Melissa, but it fits in well with some post-Abigail King Diamond albums.  It remains a great album from a great band.  So what if it is not quite as good as their classic albums.

One and Done? Pt. 12: Church Bizarre

Among the many styles of metal that I am a big fan of, there is melodic black/death metal, particularly of the Swedish variety.  You know the type, Dissection, Watain, Naglfar, and the like.  One band I discovered in this vein a couple of years ago is the Danish group Church Bizarre.  Their album, Sinister Glorification, was an excellent example of the style with catchy tremolo riffing and some of the most decayed vocals ever.  The band actually released a few demos and EPs as well, but nothing since 2006 after the full-length.  The reasons for the ending of the band are unknown.

It is a shame.  Their release is terrific and it would have been interesting to see what happened next.  They had a unique sound amongst their genre.  Cerekloth formed out of the ashes of Church Bizarre and fellow Danish black/thrash metal act Victimizer.  But Cerekloth does not have the same feel as Church Bizarre and is not quite an acceptable substitute.

There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon though.  It appears as if Church Bizarre will likely release another EP for Hell's Headbangers in 2013.  Maybe they will rise from the grave and curse us with another full-length some day.  One can hope.

Initial Impressions: Dawn of Demise: Rejoice in Vengeance

I saw this wonderfully disturbing piece of artwork staring at me from the CD racks in Hastings Bookstore and decided it was just disgusting enough to give a shot.  Especially since it was cheap.  I had no idea who Dawn of Demise were, the name vaguely rang a bell, but I had no definite idea.  But with the artwork, I knew it had to be some manner of brutal death.  Let's face it, not too many power metal bands feature artwork so deranged.

In cases like this, you really can judge a book by its cover, or music by its album art as it were.  This is brutal death metal, clearly influenced by Suffocation, Pyrexia, and some slamming brutal death metal bands as well. All of the typical brutal death metal cliches are present here.  Chugging and slamming riffs, pounding drums, and guttural vocals reign supreme in the music of Dawn of Demise.  Vocalist Scott Jensen actually has two vocal styles, a harsh bark that he uses most of the time, and the deep guttural gurgle that is common amongst slam death bands.

Dawn of Demise put together some suitably brutal tracks on this release, but it sadly lacks a sense of real identity.  There are a lot of things borrowed from other bands present here, but nothing really sticks out.  Every time I hear this album, I feel like I am hearing it for the first time, because nothing really captures the attention and sticks in the memory.  This is fine if you want to listen to something brutal, but it likely will not last much more than that.

My Favorite Metal Band from Denmark

Okay, this one was legitimately tough. How do you decide between Mercyful Fate and King Diamond? Ultimately the decision was due to the massive influence Mercyful Fate has had on the formation of metal. That and the fact that Melissa and Don't Break the Oath are all-time metal classics with tons of great songs. This is not to say anything disparaging about King Diamond's solo work, just that Mercyful Fate's early work is so influential that King Diamond could not fill those shoes.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Artillery
Iron Fire
King Diamond
Manticora
Panzerchrist
Victimizer