Take Years 20 A Ago
In the late 70’s there appeared a totally bizarre and depraved shock rock band in Denmark. Their frontman was none other than present day Metal icon King Diamond. What this disk contains is what it says. Over an hour of rehearsal time laid down on tape and surprisingly clear and professional sounding. Nothing is edited out here, so you get to hear all the between song antics within the studio. (some of which are pretty funny) Also you’ll hear the band mess up and start over. The actual songs themselves are played excellently with hardly any mistakes.If you like Merciful Fate and King Diamond but have never heard of the King’s first band, you may be a bit surprised. The band’s style lies somewhere between 70’s style Prog rock and Heavy Metal. I hear elements of Early Judas Priest, Kiss, Alice Cooper, Early Genesis, Kansas, Yes, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Black Sabbath. King’s voice hadn’t developed into the psychotic animal we know and love today. He sounded more like a a hybrid of Alice Cooper and early Rob Halford. Also the lyrics, while dark, twisted and quite morbid (try Kill For Fun, or I Need Blood), they didn’t touch on satanic themes at all. In the liner notes King talks about some of their on stage theatrics, including pig’s eyes, blood, and entrails; stabbing baby dolls, setting off bombs, and other disgusting and loony things. So if you like shock rock, prog, or are a major King Diamond fan, check out Black Rose. You’ll be enlightened for sure.
20 Years Ago A