The end of April is here fellow Otaku & Metalheads.
This month has actually been kinda fun. We had some anime goodness with Seton Academy, had our first bit of spookiness with King Diamond’s first solo album, and over a week ago examined the surprisingly good but still flawed God’s Not Dead 3. Today we return to King’s world, and what a return it is! Better storytelling & atmosphere, better instrumentation, and better vocal work comes to the forefront, and the end result is an 80s classic. Almost 40 years later, does this freaky classic stand the test of time, and still keeps it’s rightful place in the king’s discography? Light your lantern, watch the shadows, and enjoy my review of Abigail.....BOO!!!
Background
With Fatal Portrait achieving some success for the band, King Diamond & the boys went on tour to support it’s release, and by December of 1986 went back into Sound Track Studio in Copenhagen to record what would become their second album, and on the 29th of May in 1987, Abigail was released through Roadrunner Records (Like their first album). Sadly, it would be the last record that Michael Denner would perform on, as not long after Abigail’s release he would leave due to the strain of touring.
Reception wise, Abigail would go on to achieve a surprising amount of success. Supported by it’s sole single & the first music video of the band’s career (Click Here), it charted at number 39 in Sweden, number 68 in the Netherlands, and at number 123 on the Billboard 200 here in the United States. Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic wrote that Abigail is "widely recognized as King Diamond's solo masterpiece" and "is also unquestionably one of heavy metal's greatest concept albums", while Canadian journalist Martin Popoff remarked the "metallic excellence" of the album, but was negatively taken aback by the "creepy package" and the lyrics. Even guitarist Andy LaRocque spoke highly of the record, saying that it’s his favorite album because of the "good atmosphere we had as a band at that time is captured in the album".
Basic Description
Horror Metal Mastery.
Let’s get this out of the way: Fatal Portrait wasn’t bad. Like I said in my review on that album, it’s not bad by any means, as the instrumentation & vocal work is wonderful, but it’s held back a little on account of it’s lack of storytelling focus. With Abigail, the story that King is conveying is in each and every track. What story might you ask. Well, here’s just an except from Wikipedia. Don’t want to spoil the whole thing!:
“Abigail tells the story of a young couple, Miriam Natias and Jonathan La'Fey, who move into an old mansion that La'Fey inherited. It takes place in the summer of 1845. Upon their arrival they are warned by seven horsemen not to move into the house because if they do, "18 will become 9." They do not heed the warning and proceed to move into the mansion. During their first night, Jonathan meets with Count de La'Fey, the Family Ghost, who is a deceased relative. The ghost shows him a casket in which a corpse of a stillborn child, Abigail, rests. The ghost informs him that Miriam is carrying the spirit of Abigail and that the child will soon be reborn. He insists that Jonathan must kill Miriam at once to prevent the rebirth.”
Even if you don’t factor in the story, Abigail is also a big improvement when it comes to the instrumentation & vocals. Everybody in the band already proved themselves quite a bit on instrumentation, but on this releases things tightened up a little, and are a little more on page with one another. King already showed the world how well he could sing on Fatal Portrait and his time in Mercyful Fate, but here he shows off a little more range. On top of that, the recording & production got a bit of a touch-up, to the point where it still sounds fresh nearly 40 years after it’s release.
Best Track
When I first took a look at Abigail back in October of 2019 in part 1 of my overview on King, I said in that the best track of the album was a tie between the haunting Omens & the titular title track. Both are still great tunes, but my opinion has shifted since then, and now I say that A Mansion In Darkness is the best song of Abigail. Jonathan & his wife Miriam have arrived at the mansion, and right away it’s obvious that something is wrong with the place, but the couple dismiss it as pure nonsense. Outside of the story, what really sells this track is the overall quality. The guitar & bass is fast and thunderous but steady, the drumwork hits like thunder outside of a haunted house, and King’s voice is as spooky as ever at this point in his career. Coupled with just a hint of cheese, A Mansion In Darkness is just a fun song that’ll make the hairs on your arm stand up in addition to some headbanging on the side.
A Mansion In Darkness
Aside from the tune mentioned above, what really separates Abigail from Fatal Portrait is the complete focus on storytelling. Like I said in my review on the previously mentioned release, only half of the album was dedicated to the story that King wanted to tell, while the rest was just generic horror (Even though it wasn’t necessarily bad). On this album, King has his attention fully focused on the story he wants to tell, and as such comes across as far more solid than what he did before. King would only do something like Fatal Portrait one more time in his career, but I’ve already covered that once before (Click Here, and look for “The Spider’s Lullaby”).
Worst Track
To say there’s a bad track on this album is absolute blasphemy! From the opener to the closer, you are treated to not just one of the best horror metal albums of all time, but one of the best EIGHTIES albums period. You might be able to make the argument that the ending is a bit on the soul-crushing side, as it does tease things might end for the better, but this is King Diamond we’re talking about. The man isn’t known for happy endings, and on the two occasions it has happened, there’s still a dark twist to it.
Other
If you’re curious about listening to this album, click on the link below:
Abigail
Overall Impression & Rating
Abigail is a fun & spooky tale, and one in which fans all paid attention to it’s characters and the story that was woven. On top of the story, it’s atmosphere strikes a seemingly perfect balance between scary and cheesy. Outside of that, the instrumentation was improved a little bit, and King’s vocals got a little more sinister & raspy when compared to Fatal Portrait. Even if it ends on a soul-crushing note, Abigail is an evolution of what came before it, and a marker for just about all of the band’s future releases.
Abigail gets a 10 out of 10.
And that was my review of Abigail. Spooky and fun, it also manages to be an improvement in musical talent. It’s almost 40 years old, and somehow still feels just as strong here in 2025 as it did back in 1987. If you’re in the mood for some horror fun, then Abigail is for you! So, tomorrow is the start of May, and we’ve come to the first set of musical honorable mentions. Before that however, we’re revisiting the world of Doom, so join me tomorrow for a look at one of the most underrated releases in the franchise. See you tomorrow!
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