It is Halloween, and of course I needed to write this review! Mr. Kim Bendix Petersen, more well-known as King Diamond, had stormed the world of metal music in Mercyful Fate prior launching his solo band. He had felt festive in 1985 with 'No Presents for Christmas', and again with 'Halloween' which appeared on this debut album, 'Fatal Portrait', in February 1986. It really is THE Halloween anthem for all metalheads; what else could possible come first in the mind than this song when thinking about Halloween?! Okay, there's that German band, but I got KD in my mind first.

Let's talk about this masked singer... His masks are practically unbeatable, even in the year of masks, 0 AD COVID-19! The one in 1986 featured an upside down cross on forehead, bat wing eyes and black ooze dripping from mouth, and was the same he used in MF. The image is everything? Wrong! There's more to him... His falsetto vocals might derail one into deep pit of madness. Incredibly cutting high-pitched voice: The voice of ghosts, as how I feel it is, or of a banshee. It is utterly demonic. There's more or less echo utilized, giving an impression it at times comes from "the other side", especially when he howls. He also uses normal voice or growled one, sometimes together, for highly theatrical effects. Mostly I enjoy his outlet, but at times I tolerate it, even after 3 decades of listening to it. This is one of two KD albums that has no full album concept (the other is his 1995 album 'The Spider's Lullabye'). Without giving out too much, it is a grim ghost story of 6 songs (IF you count 'Voices from the Past' in, which I certainly do).

'Fatal Portrait' does somewhat differ from Mercyful Fate, even though it features two more guys from MF, namely Michael Denner on guitar and Timi Hansen (R.I.P.) on bass. Andy LaRocque (real name: Anders Allhage) plays second guitar and Mikkey Dee (real name: Micael Delaoglou, of Motörhead fame) is on drums. Anyway these songs are at times similar to multi-riff epics of MF with heavy anvil-hammering tempos. While consisting of NWOBHM (Angel Witch, for example) / traditional metal, KD material is a tad more speed metal -infused. The tone is eery, absolutely dire at times, in a good way, that is, and 'Charon' and 'Halloween' are totally bad-ass. Fast yet melodic guitar solos are very tasty, as expected from Denner/LaRocque duo; they are like small symphonies inside the songs (I love how the first solo explodes in on 'Halloween', and 'Dressed in White' strongly reminds of Iron Maiden). The bass guitar is its own entity, thickening the whole. The drumming includes double kick drumming already, and some reverse beats. The musicianships are already very skilled. The sound is airy, thanks to reverb, but also rather heavy; pure 1980s.

The song-smith is good, yet it isn't totally "classic", as a whole. However, there are no bad riffs to be heard, and the durations are short-ish. There's a tale told, but it isn't one of KD's best, and that can also be heard in compositions. The album's structuring also leaves room for improvement. And that improvement truly happened! If one had a CD player back in the day, there is a bonus track on CD editions: 'The Lake'. It is similarly melodic and haunting like 'Lurking in the Dark' for example, and should have been on the album (it was first released on the 'Halloween' single).

While not top-3 album from KD in my opinion, 'Fatal Portrait' is a must-own for who love metal and horror alloyed. Do not look into her eyes for too long, or you'll surely be enchanted! Watch out, beware... Bollocks, that was from that German band...

Rating: 8½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
10/31/2020 19:06