King Diamond / Nile / Black Dahlia Murder / Behemoth
Chicago House Of Blues - 4/27/04
Review by Dr. Mality, Photos by Sgt. Deth
There
are a lot of good bands in the heavy metal scene today, but how many
real entertainers are there? By "entertainer", I mean individuals who
go out and put on a complete package that offers more than just going on
stage and playing songs with enthusiasm? The answer is, very few. I
think of innovators like Alice Cooper and Paul Stanley of Kiss. These
guys know how to put on a show and they also make you feel like a member
of the family. I could also mention the likes of Overkill, Judas Priest
and Motorhead.
And, of course, King Diamond. The legendary Danish master of mayhem has
had an almost 30 year career (including first outfit Black Rose) of
going out on stage and providing more than just live music. He creates
an atmosphere and a memorable character to go along with his intricate,
melodic heavy metal.
Many consider King Diamond and his band to be overdone and campy, but
the attention to detail and superior performance that King puts into his
show signifies that he takes his craft very seriously indeed.
Therefore, the discerning metalhead is usually excited to see this
ghoulish ringmaster come to town.
April 27,2005 was the date of King's latest entrance into the Chicago
area, which is full of rabid Diamond fans and he drew a packed crowd to
the House of Blues (including a few who sported King-like face make-up
and trademark top hats). But before the King took the stage, there was a
strong line-up of underground metal bands to whet our appetites first.
The career of Poland's Behemoth has unfolded with almost military
precision. From their first days as an obscure black metal band to the
recent well-received onslaught of their album "Demigod", these guys have
taken it one step at a time and as a result, have steadily advanced in
the ranks of metaldom. With their corpse paint and studded leather war
gear, they cut a pretty intimidating picture on stage. The opening
couple of numbers of their set were unbridled and chaotic, but as
Behemoth continued, the true power in their material emerged. They have a
knack of coming up with riffs that conjure up ancient days of barbarism
and black magic. When charismatic frontman Nergal emerged wearing a
bizarre war helmet and a long leather coat, it was like the arrival of a
demonic priest. The band is super tight and posseses an incredible
drummer in Inferno, and they got a very good response for a band opening
the show at around 5:30 in the afternoon.
I couldn't really say the same for the Black Dahlia Murder. Despite
being very popular and selling a lot of records, they got the cold
shoulder from most of the crowd, which was composed of either very
devoted oldschool metalheads or rabid underground death metallers.
Despite the speed and heaviness of their music, BDM is coming from the
new tradition of metal and were looked on with some suspicion by those
in the crowd. To tell you the truth, I was reminded of senior high
schoolers looking down on junior high schoolers. For my own part, I
thought BDM delivered a very energetic and tight set which featured some
new songs to be featured on their forthcoming "Miasma" record. Black
Dahlia Murder ended their set with a ferocious "Funeral Thirst", but it
was plain that this was not their crowd.
Nile got a better reception. These disciples of the pharoahs have a very
strong following themselves and it was clear some were here to see them
rather than King Diamond. One bald tattooed guy by us was constantly
growling and grunting during their set in an attempt to out-guttural
Karl Sanders. Nile's attack was pulverizing, low-tuned death metal
designed to smash bones. The fast stuff was pretty much a blur, but
slower dirges like the awesome "Sarcophagus" packed a truly brutal
wallop. The band now features a two pronged vocal approach, with Dallas
Toller-Wade handling the majority of the vocals and former lead singer
Sanders offering his supremely gruesome growls only now and then. The
band blasted through well-known tracks like "Chapter For Turning Into a
Snake"and the dramatic "Rameses, Bringer of War", but they also gave us
some sneak peaks at their upcoming record "Annihilation of the Wicked".
"Cast Down the Heretic" was a furious highspeed hellride while
"Sacrifice Unto Sebek" showed more of the Egyptian influence. The most
impressive ditty,though, was "Annihilation of the Wicked" itself, which
was a very lengthy song full of time and tempo changes. A real epic!
Nile features two relatively new players. Drummer George Kollias
admirably fills in for his predecessors, hitting with the same extreme
double bass ferocity, while 19 year old bassist Joe Payne thrashes and
whirls his head like a demon possessed. He is second only to Cannibal
Corpse's George Fischer in that aspect. I must say, though, that Karl
Sanders' lead guitar solos sounded kind of flabby and nowhere near as
sharp as they do on record. Nevertheless, the band got a rousing
response following their final track "Black Seeds of Vengeance", which
had the faithful singing along.
The last time I saw King Diamond, he was with Mercyful Fate, back in
1998. Tonight, he was with his own band, so the set was bound to be
different. I went with Sgt. Deth and his wife Kathi, who had seen King
many t imes before, and they insisted I was in for a treat. They were
not wrong. As I said at the beginning, King is a pure entertainer and
tonight he demonstrated his skill
A cast iron fence was posted across the front of the stage, forming a
barrier between the crowd and the band. A small white coffin with the
name "ABIGAIL" on it was placed on a raised platform in the center of
the stage. With little fanfare, the nattily-attired and top-hatted King
himself strode to the coffin with a handful of lillies. He mouthed the
words to the soliliquy that begins the "Abigail II" CD and then threw
the lillies into the coffin with spite. The rest of the band appeared
and we were off!
King knew enough to concentrate on the band's best stuff. It's
impossible to please every fan, but you can't go wrong by starting
things off with "Arrival" and "The Family Ghost" from the ultra-classic
"Abigail". Right from the get-go, Diamond assumes his character,
gesturing and leering like a real black magician. His admiration of
Alice Cooper is evident but he advances it to another level. You won't
hear such tired cliches as "Make some fuckin' noise!" from this showman.
The fans will make enough noise without coaxing if you're worth a shit.
As much as King commands the stage, he doesn't crowd out the other
members of his band. Bassist Hal Patino in particular puts in a very
energetic performance, running from one side of the stage to the other
and headbanging like there's no tomorrow. Guitarists Mike Wead and Andy
La Rocque are a bit more subdued, but they have to concentrate on some
pretty intricate guitar during the course of the evening. I kept my eye
on La Rocque,who pulled off some pretty cool maneuvers with his axe. I
still say Shermann and Denner of Mercyful Fate are a bit better, but
Mike and Andy deserve a high place in the pantheon of great guitar duos.
King also had a multi-talented female performer help him out in enacting
his tales on stage. This sexy Hungarian gal portrayed the tormented
"Miriam" during the "Abigail" songs, helped King with a black mass when
the band played Mercyful Fate's "Come to the Sabbath" and played the
tragic Victoria when "Blood to Walk" from "The Puppet Master" was
cranked up . During the last song, she was particularly effective,
wearing an eerie white mask and making the jerky movements of a human
puppet. But no doubt she had the most fun portraying the
wheelchair-bound "Grandma" as the band played the title track to "Them".
Wearing a ridiculous mask and baggy clothes, she hobbled around the
stage in a rage, pointing her cane at the crowd and threatening to
clobber King with it.
Most of the set concentrated on the two "Abigail" albums, "The Puppet
Master" and "Them", though we did get to hear the excellent "Eye of the
Witch" from "The Eye". Nothing from "Conspiracy", "Voodoo", "The
Graveyard" or "The House of God". "Come to the Sabbath" was a decent
choice for a Fate song, but I would have liked "Curse of the Pharaohs"
or "A Dangerous Meeting", myself. You can't win 'em all.
All during this time, King held the crowd in the palm of his hand. In
each song, he assumed a character. During the tender ballad that ends
"The Puppet Master", he sat seated while talking to "Victoria" and his
movements were full of sorrow and longing. During the encore
"Halloween", he became an energetic shaman dancing with his cross of
bones. And for the final track, oldschool Mercyful Fate fans got another
treat, as "Evil" was played flawlessly by the band.
Leaving the show, I swear I have never heard the word "awesome" spoken
so many times by so many people. I don't think anyone was disappointed
in Diamond's set. People spend their hard earned money to get
entertained. With King Diamond, not only do you get a trip to the dark
side, you get your money's worth as well.
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