Only Heavy Metal

Overtime rehearsals with stand-in bass player Pontus Egberg from Sweden is paying off.

See you at Grona Lund - Stockholm, on the 25th!

"Dreams Of Horror", a 2xCD collection of KING DIAMOND songs, newly enhanced into ultimate editions by King Diamond and Andy La Rocque themselves, will be released by Metal Blade Records on November 11.

"Dreams Of Horror" is the only "best-of" album covering the band's entire career. King Diamond and Andy La Rocque meticulously mastered and enhanced these 23 songs into the ultimate editions, chosen by the band from both the Roadrunner and Metal Blade catalogs.

A 2xCD collection of King Diamond songs, newly enhanced into ultimate editions by King Diamond and Andy LaRocque themselves, will be released by Metal Blade Records next month

King Diamond‘s “Dreams of Horror” is the only “best of” album covering the band’s entire career. King Diamond and Andy LaRocque meticulously mastered and enhanced these 23 songs into the ultimate editions, chosen by the band from both the Roadrunner and Metal Blade catalogs.

“Dreams of Horror” will be available on November 11th. Listen to “The Puppet Master” from disc 2 of “Dreams of Horror” and pre-order a copy now at metalblade.com/kingdiamond.

King Diamond will be recording a feature length live concert video for blu-ray / DVD / digital release while on tour this fall! Director Denise Korycki (Cannibal Corpse, Killswitch Engage) has been enlisted to direct the project, which will include footage from multiple shows throughout the entire “Abigail in concert 2015” tour.

In other news, Philadelphia and Detroit have been selected as the cities at which King Diamond will film the live shows for the forthcoming DVD. The massive, multi-camera shoot, will be directed by Denise Korycki (Cannibal Corpse, Killswitch Engage), and will also include additional footage from multiple shows throughout the entire “Abigail in concert 2015″ tour. Tickets are on sale now for all shows, so pick them up soon before they sell out!

Former ANTHRAX singer Neil Turbin recently conducted an interview with KING DIAMOND guitarist Andy La Rocque for Canada's The Metal Voice. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about when KING DIAMOND will officially start working on material for the follow-up to the band's 2007 album "Give Me Your Soul...Please", Andy said: "I've been really busy [producing other bands at my studio in Sweden] until we went on the [Rockstar Energy Drink] Mayhem [Festival] tour this summer. I was really busy until then. And since we got back from the Mayhem tour, I think I've only been in the studio for, like, three days, because we've been so busy preparing for this tour. But, actually, we're gonna have a little break after this tour, and after that break, we're gonna start writing music for the next album."

He continued: "We have some riffs, but once we start getting into the process, it's gonna be brainstorming and all that stuff. So it's gonna be somewhere, I guess, in maybe February, we're gonna start doing that."

On January 25th, King Diamond will release a new DVD/Blu-ray, Songs For The Dead Live, via Metal Blade Records.

There is only one King Diamond, and for more than thirty years the great Dane has been dropping classic albums and putting on shows fans remember for the rest of their lives. Perhaps the only downside to having such a formidable catalogue is that there are just too many great songs to fit into a single set. However, you would be hard-pressed to find a fan who wouldn’t want to hear 1987′s seminal Abigail in its entirety, and Songs For The Dead Live captures this, twice, and in very different locales. Boasting eighteen songs per set, each of the two shows – Belgium’s Graspop Metal Meeting in June 2016 and Philadelphia’s Fillmore in November 2015 – feature a brace of classic King Diamond and Mercyful Fate tracks including “Welcome Home,” “Halloween,” and “Eye Of The Witch” before launching into Abigail. The performances of the all-star lineup of musicians, comprising of guitarists Andy LaRocque and Mike Wead, bassist Pontus Egberg and drummer Matt Thompson, are absolutely ferocious, hammering home every single moment.

For a preview of Songs For The Dead Live, a video for “Sleepless Nights (Live at The Fillmore)” can be viewed at: metalblade.com/kingdiamond – where you can also pre-order the release in the following formats:


–2DVD/CD 6-Panel Digipak
–Blu-ray (includes audio digital download of Philadelphia Show)
–special edition box set with 5 discs (2DVD, 2CD, 1 Blu-ray) plus poster, flier, laminate, setlist, ticket, sticker, and guitar pick (limited to 3000 copies)
–opaque blue with white splatter vinyl (US retail exclusive – limited to 600 copies)
–opaque red with black splatter vinyl (US webstore exclusive – limited to 200 copies)
–opaque white with black splatter vinyl (US webstore exclusive – limited to 200 copies)
–180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
–transparent amber marbled vinyl (EU exclusive – limited to 700 copies)
–clear ghost white vinyl (EU exclusive – limited to 500 copies)
–orange-brown/black marbled vinyl (EU exclusive – limited to 300 copies)
–black/purple melt vinyl (Nuclear Blast exclusive – limited to 200 copies)
–orange/red marbled vinyl (Napalm exclusive – limited to 300 copies)
–clear lavender marbled vinyl (EMP exclusive – limited to 200 copies)
–clear ash grey marbled vinyl (Bengan exclusive – limited to 200 copies)
–pink blue marbled vinyl (Ebay exclusive – limited to 200 copies)

Captured on film by director Denise Korycki for Wild Wind Studios, she worked closely with King on every aspect of filming, and throughout the viewer finds themselves front and center as the shows unfold. This includes some inventive camera placement, such as riding in on the back of the wheelchair as it is wheeled out to “Out From The Asylum” at the start of the show, or looking up from the coffin at the commencement of Abigail opener “Funeral”, which adds an extra dimension to proceedings. Naturally, the theatricality that has become synonymous with King Diamond is there in full force, making for an even more immersive experience. The gothic stage set and the participation of actors playing out certain scenes tying into the songs definitely increases the drama and the sense of complete disconnect from the trappings of reality, ensuring that the shows remain riveting from start to finish.

While the setlists are virtually identical, the drastic difference in the two venues make for distinctly different atmospheres. The sweeping, epic scale of Graspop and the virtual sea of baying metalheads makes for a particularly thrilling spectacle, King holding them all in the palm of his hand. The Fillmore show is immediately more intimate, and rather than a mixed bag of metal lovers drunk on a weekend of the heavy stuff, the audience is comprised entirely of the King Diamond devout, screaming back every word, their love for their hero bleeding from every frame. Songs For The Dead Live gives those who missed out on seeing these shows in the flesh a chance to vividly experience them, offering so much deeper an experience than your run of the mill live DVD.