By James Casey
Arizona Daily Wildcat
April 23, 1998

Here comes the metal King

The '80s: a time of stonewash, big hair and metal.

The '90s: an era which lacks mainstream heavy metal is about to get a brutal kick in the face. Hessians and rockers are on the rise and metal is slowly becoming cool again. Groups like Korn, greatly influenced by metal (glam, heavy, death, black, etc.) are big again and starting to fill arenas. Rap, the music of the day, is dying, and soon inner city kids will be cultivating a Vince Neil (Motley Crue) hair cut. Satan is cool and everyone is starting to realize it.

Sunday, King Diamond will scare the living shit out of many an onlooker at the Rialto Theatre. Songs with lyrics such as "I don't want your holy water, oooh nooooo," are guaranteed to impress. King Diamond is no stranger to the scene - he's been at this for 20 years and woos the crowds with his over-the-top falsetto screams. The sound is akin to Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson with a higher voice. Maiden, the British kings of metal, probably love the King. Album titles such as Graveyard and The Spider's Lullaby are indicators of the awesome metal skills that this man possesses.

King Diamond, or KD as I like to call him, started out with Mercyful Fate, a band of somewhat legendary status in the evil world of metal. Diamond's main selling points are his epic tales of sorrow, death and other scary and evil goings-on. His latest album, Voodoo, tells the hauntingly gruesome story detailing a family in Louisiana and the inexplicable events that occur to them. Only the King could create a wailing opera of metal and pull it off with such style.

Many of you may not have heard of King Diamond, but I guarantee that you've seen him in your local record store. In between glorious metal bands such as King's X and King's Death Wind Skull, there he lies, resting in peace, caked in thick stage makeup. The makeup is similar to a deathly Ultimate Warrior, except with a smaller prop budget. Makeup is integral in metal, as are leather, studs and chains. Innovators of the glam scene (Poison, Cinderella, Motley Crue and Ratt) all display this fetish for wash-off face paint. Vince Neil himself favored black eyeliner (evil as piss), Poison liked lipstick and Cinderella had everything else. King Diamond is not a glam rocker, though - he is the keeper of metal faith, kind of like KRS-One and hip hop.

Lock up your daughters. King Diamond is here to take what is rightfully his, a little bit of respect for metal as a form of music. Grab your parents' crosses, turn them upside down and rock out.

King Diamond is playing the Rialto Theatre Sunday, April 26 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets to the all-ages show (bar with ID) are $13, available at Dillard's, Zia's and by phoning Strictly CDs at 1-800-638-4253.