Heep, this is so odd because I swear, the said 'twofer' is completely listenable - it may be technically adrift but somehow - it sounds kind of neutral, in that I can dial it up quite a way and the sound stage simply expands. During 'Satan's Fall' the effect at high amplitude is almost test disc quality (for my idea of 'how Metal should be produced.') Indeed, it's so good, I generally forget about the hardware and float off into the realms of musical nirvana. That said, if you can recommend alternative versions, I am perfectly susceptible to multiple copy quests that might achieve 'grail quality.'
Well it's like they say, it's best to listen with your ears and not by looking at some waveforms. Sadly I don't have any Mercyful Fate anymore, but I'm gonna track down some originals.
I am an old school MF fan. I have read in an interview where King favors MF but he says touring with them doesn't pay the bills. Don't Break The Oath is one of the best metal albums ever IMO.
The last I heard King prefers King Diamond because it gives him more freedom musically but that Mercy holds a special place obviously.
So I got the box set. These are the 1997 remasters though with no bonus tracks. I actually like the sound of these except for Abigail. Abigail seems to be harsh as hell while the rest are ok in my opinion.
Well, Heep, seems we have the same idea on this version of that album. Nice to know the rest seem fine.
Big fan here....I tend to like some of the more off the beaten path releases like KD The Eye and MF In the Shadows, Into The Unknown. But of course, the classic stuff trumps all i.e. Melissa, Don't Break the Oath, Them, Abigail - great stuff. King needs to cross the pond and play in the US again!!
Doubt these are the same thing, but I like Andy Larocque's remastering of some of the 90s albums. I have his remaster of Spider's Lullabye on vinyl and I'm impressed by the sound. He used at least 24/96 digital files if not analog masters judging by the spectogram. King lives in the Dallas area so he'll be back. The unofficial word is that something is being planned for the fall/winter.
The Graveyard remaster though a bit loud in some places sounds very good. I've never owned the original to compare if it truly is better though.
Them from this box set is real good. It's got a dynamic range of 12! The others have a dynamic range at around 10, except for abigail which is 8. I think the box set is worth it, except for Abigail. I bought an original off of Discogs, I'll compare it when it gets in.
I got the original The Beginning Roadracer CD. It has great mastering, though the recordings themselves are a little low fi.
Good to see this thread. I'm a big King Diamond fan, who got into his world through the gates of the LaFey mansion with Abigail, and became a believer thanks to the Conspiracy. During the 90s I got into other things as I was expanding my tastes to things other than the metal-always-and-metal-only diet that I'd been on until then, but when my exploring was done and I returned to the fold, the King's mystique engulfed me again for good. Over the years I've managed all his albums, and I can say that to me the guy has never made a bad album. The Spider's Lullaby is the only one I found weaker (it sounded like a bad recording too), but the rest are all varying degrees of good, with the occasional masterpiece. I have never seen him live but I'll jump at the chance at the next opportunity I get. It's great to have him back in health and doing what he does best. Really looking forward to a new album too! Melissa and his run from Fatal Portrait to Conspiracy are flawless and some of the best heavy metal ever. Listening to the early Mercyful Fate you can totally hear where Metallica took one or two ideas from. Mercyful Fate in the 90s was still really good and all their albums are recommended. The best King Diamond since Conspiracy is to be found on The Graveyard and House Of God, both brilliant on all levels; great stories too. The latest from King Diamond, besides his current tour, is his vocal on Room 24, a song from Volbeat's latest album (Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies). Good stuff with the King in fine voice. Check it out:
Petersen has such a stylistically ideal Metal pitch that no matter how unorthodox a composition may be, the merest flex of falsetto usually re-rails the train. I maintain that to this day, Melissa sounds like an exercise in perfect Metal and after years purring over Metallica's fantastic Garage Days, their stupendous medley of 'Fate's early standards never made me feel short changed whenever invoking those 'M-F' originals. Cheers for the link, Anthrax, I enjoyed that! (Although what in the name of Hiawatha's tomahawk is 'Rockabilly Metal,' to which I believe these great Danes are inclined?)
Maybe headbanging with a greased up quiff, I don't know. That song above is the first I've ever heard from Volbeat, and it only came to my attention through the King Diamond website when it was released 3 months ago. Maybe our resident metallopaedia, Aleksandar, knows more about them. Going on that song alone, I thought they're worth checking out.
Aaaaand, now I have. Thanks for the link Anthrax, interesting song. Danzig? Although, this Volbeat thingy is not quite in the same ballpark. I hear a lot of groove/power/thrash in the riffs, and the vocals are like a mixture of that Scandinavian gothic metal of the 90s (Sentenced, Katatonia...) and classic Danzig. Although, at times I was reminded of what all those groove metal and nu metal bands were doing, vocal-wise, in the more melodic passages - think Phil Anselmo or Robb Flynn, when they sang instead of barking, or perhaps the same, but for the Korn/Deftones axis. An interesting song, brings up a whole lot of different associations.
Are there any good quality Mercyful Fate vinyl reissues out there? Original pressings of their albums - as well as most 80's metal albums for that matter - are very hard to find these days. If you do, there's a good chance that it'll be in rough shape.
Volbeat is an interesting and fun band, the singer sounds like a mix of Johnny Cash and Keith Caputo of Life of Agony. They make fun, headbanging heavy metal and have grown to be fairly well known and popular since they toured opening for Metallica.
I know this isn't the classifieds section, but I have an extra copy of Melissa on vinyl (first US pressing, pressed at Sterling like the Dutch 1st) if you're interested. It's easily in VG++ condition. PM me if interested. I'm glad this thread has taken off! I've heard footage of some of King's summer shows and most nights his voice sounds great. Amazing that a 57 year old can still have that sort of range!
Thought I share this here...sorry for the crap quality, got no scanner here and had to photograph the photograph with the cellphone Me and King Diamond in 83. Mercyful Fate did a support show for Raven.
It makes me want to charge through the Black Forest in a 928 at 150 (barely cruising) with Doro Pesch whispering the collective works of the poet, Klaus Meine into mein lugholes.
