KING DIAMOND: "WHO'S PULLING YOUR STRINGS?"
by Paul Autry
With each new release, King Diamond takes us into another world where a nightmare is our only friend. We meet new people, we're placed in new situations and we journey into the world of darkness where nothing is as it may seem to be. Yet, there always seems to be a light at the end of our journey. While the people we meet may be forever changed in some way, there's always a bit of salvation to be found. No wicked deed goes without punishment. This time, however, King Diamond takes us to a level we've never experienced. We go deep into the heart of evil and this time, evil comes out on top.
Welcome to the world of "The Puppet Master." Here, you will see who's pulling your strings. At the time of this interview, I only heard three songs from the new album. Not quite enough to get an idea as to what the big picture is so to speak. The music, however, has a pretty heavy sound and, when it comes to King Diamond, you know you're not gonna be disappointed. So, even though I can't say too much about three songs, from what I heard, it sounds like King Diamond has delivered once again. But, really, I wouldn't expect anything less. Due to a time limit on our conversation, we really weren't able to get into anything as deep as I would have liked to go. So, consider this a taste of what's to come. There might not be a lot of heavy details in this conversation. But, it should be enough to get you interested in what may very well be the best King Diamond album ever. Check it out.
Paul Autry: So, where are you calling me from today?
King Diamond: I'm in Dallas, Texas.
Paul Autry: Oh, okay. You're getting ready to go out on tour?
King Diamond: Oh, yes!
Paul Autry: Well, I guess we can start right there. What can we expect to see when we catch you live on this tour?
King Diamond: Well, uh, we're always trying to be an act that is theatrical on stage, something extra for the fans. We do not have the budgets that big bands have, you know? But, with our budget, we use our imagination and make the dollar stretch. We've been able to do quite a nice show I think, for so many years now on a limited budget. So, I'm sure this one will be no exception. It'll be quite visual.
Paul Autry: Since you have a wealth of material to choose from now, have you decided on what you'll do live, what can people expect to hear?
King Diamond: That was a difficult thing to decide. The fact that we didn't tour for "Abigail II," and we had a tour set up to do it. We were ready to sign all the contracts with the local promoters when we found out that there was no tour support for the first time ever. That was all due to the online downloading. First it hits the label, then it hits us and then it hits the fans. They didn't get a tour. At the time, we expressed that we wanted to feature the Abigail story and play maybe sixty, seventy percent of those songs from those two albums and surround it with all the old songs. But, that didn't take place. And I feel obliged in some way to give, at least, a mini story of Abigal and still, we have a new album that we feel even stronger about and that needs to be featured as well. It was real difficult to have a certain time that you can play each night, because this is a four band package that's going out, and I think we're gonna have, on average, an hour and 45 minutes. But, that's the normal time frame that we've had before. We couldn't say, well, okay, we need to extend this time because that's not there. So, we're gonna do seven full songs from the two Abigail songs, the more visual songs. The fireplace from the story will be there, the coffin. You'll see me in the wheelchair as Jonathan and the actors we have with us will be beating the shit out of me with my cane and you'll see me stand by her close to the fireplace and yank out a big lock of her hair, things like that that are important to the storyline. We'll go into some of the older songs as well and then we'll start "The Puppet Master" story. We'll come back and do some more songs. Grandma will be on stage with us...can't do a show without grandma. We're doing a song from "The Eye" that we've never played live in the U.S. before. We did it live on the European tour and it went over really well. It's the song "Burn," and of course, we've gotta do "No Presents For Christmas." That's pretty much it. Half of the songs we're playing, we haven't played live before. So, it's gonna be a very refreshing experience.
Paul Autry: The songs that you choose to play live from "The Puppet Master," will they be able to get the story line of the album across to people?
King Diamond: Well, you know, if you don't play the whole thing, you're not getting the whole story. So, it's more like we're highlighting the story. We will, however, play the songs in proper sequence. So, when you'll hear them, they'll be in the right order. The fans who have the album and know the story will see some of those highlights acted out on stage. If you don't have the album and you're there watching it, hopefully, you will remember because they're very visual and impressive. When you do go get the album, you should remember. You can't do complete theatre unless you would say, okay, we're gonna do "The Puppet Master" now and then play ALL the songs with more actors on the stage.
Paul Autry: Now, I only heard three songs from the new album and I couldn't really get a feel for the story. But, before you called, I was reading some stuff online where you were talking a bit about the story and it seems that, as your press release states, this is your most extreme album to date. So, could you give us a little insight into what the album's all about?
King Diamond: I can give you how I came up with it and a few overall things. But, I simply can't go into great detail about the story because, this one is deeper than any of the others. There's a lot to follow that will develop from song to song, the more you read the lyrics. It's an easy story to follow if you're reading from front to back. But, it's very deep. If I would start telling it, it would take at least 45 minutes. If I start to do an overall view, it will not be deep enough for you to get anything out of it. I mean, I can't tell you that after I'm turned into a puppet, my eyes become immortal or given eternal life because of a ritual that went wrong. I'd have to explain what ritual, what does it do? Okay, it's the exchange between The Puppet Master and stealing the soul from the victims and giving them a different kind of soul by this demon that he does these trades with. Then I'd have to explain what does the soul do, where does it go? I can't say one thing without explaining something else because this one is all tied together. The blood, how does the blood work? How did this person become a puppet? How can they learn to walk again? It's just a tiny part of the story. You'd have to go back to the begining because there was a love story starting after I went and explained how a puppet show is experienced by me, what is going on there, what is the magic of these puppets shows. I explained that. Then the story takes place where I meet this girl, Victoria, and we become boyfriend/girlfriend. But, there's something really weird happening at the time when we kiss for the first time and that is tied into what I just saw on stage. It's really complex and this love story going on, it turns into something really....I just gave you some bits and pieces of it and you're going, "Woah...what?"
Paul Autry: Yes, to listen to you tell it, well, you've already got my attention.
King Diamond: Yes, and it's a few little things. But, once you get the story from begining to end and you go through it, it all makes sense. And you will have the right backround from one song to the next. Later, when you go back and read over it, you'll see the connections. I can tell you, it's the most brutal story that I've ever written and it's the deepest one, which you will totally understand. It's also a very different King Diamond story plot. Usually, when I appear as one of the characters in the story, I always win at the end. I always get revenge or something.
Paul Autry: Yeah, I read where it said that, this time, there is no payback and, to me, I thought that was an interesting concept for a King Diamond album.
King Diamond: Yeah, it's totally different. The fate that I experience at the end is worse than being dead and evil, which is the Puppet Master and his wife in the story, have the biggest success ever. I mean, evil totally conquers in this story. Me, being the good one in the story, it's a tragedy.
Paul Autry: So, what made you decide to go in that direction?
King Diamond: That's just the way it started falling into place. The initial inspiration for this whole thing was from being in Budapest in 1999 with Mercyful Fate. We were out walking in the old parts of Budapest, with these very narrow streets and there was this, what looked like an old theater, that's exactly what it looked like. Above it, it said, "The National Puppet Theater" and I was like, "What?" I have never heard of such a thing. I only know that puppet theater is something that takes place in a little tent in a park with a bunch of screaming, enthusiastic kids in front. This sounded so weird to me and I started getting these thoughts...in what way would that work. Then we continue walking on the same street and suddenly, it was one puppet shop after another. All closed, there wasn't even any lights on in the shops. But, going close up to the window, you could look through. In this semi-dark shop, it was full of these puppets, all different sizes, some of them were almost human size. They were sitting on chairs, hanging on the walls and I thought, wow, there's a world of its own going on in there. It gave me this feeling, and I'll never forget it, I would not sleep in that shop even if they paid me because those monsters would come to life and kill me or something like that. It gave me such a creepy feeling. Coming back to the hotel that same night, I wrote down all these notes and impressions, little ideas, drawings...and I ended up with what looked like the foundation for a new story. Not the whole plot and all the details. But, the foundation. That was put away and we did "Abigail II." When we came to the new album, I came back to these notes and I read them over again and the feeling came back just as strong as when I was there and I thought, I had to do this, this has got to be the foundation. From then on, it took time to build the story up and to get all the details right, to make sure I could defend any aspect of the story. No one must be able to come point a finger, you know? It's quite complicated and deep. But, it was worked out. And the music...and you only heard three songs...and I don't care what three songs they would have picked, they would never EVER give you any impression as to what this album's like. When you hear the whole thing you will remember what I'm saying now, that it's a rollercoaster ride in emotions. You go from the most theatrical horror into the saddest you have ever heard from us to the most aggressive we've ever done. It's all there. It's as if we've been able to put more of every King Diamond aspect into this one album, something we've never done before...and we've added something new as well.
Paul Autry: Something else that caught my eye, you have a female vocalist who's not just in the backround on this album.
King Diamond: Yeah. We've never had a female vocalist sing on any other album. We've had a girl come in and cry a little or say something. She's from Budapest, so, it's quite perfect. You don't hear it on what you have and, on the last song, "Living Dead," it's edited. There's actually another minute, 45 seconds to that song. It's an outro that's very moody and she's on that. Once you hear her voice, it's an amazing voice.
Paul Autry: Will she be joining you on this tour?
King Diamond: Yes. She portrays the character Victoria on the album. I think it's eight out of the twelve songs that she appears on. Some of 'em, it's not very much. You'll also find her singing full verses. It's not something that changes the King Diamond style. But, it enhances our style. It's a whole new experience.
Paul Autry: Another thing you have going on here is a DVD that features you telling the story of "The Puppet Master."
King Diamond: Yeah, that was Brian Slagel's idea. He was at my house and we were going out for a business dinner. As we sat there, I told him the story from how I remember it. After I had done that, Brain had said that I gave him goosebumps and I should tell the story some way on the album, maybe as a bonus track or as a DVD. Tell it just as you told it to me now. I said, well, that sounds cool. I could do it in full make up, it would have that much more effect. He said it was a done deal, let's do it. So, it gives the fans a lot more. It's all bonus, it's all free. The album's not gonna be more expensive. Yeah, so, I sit there in full make up and I tell the story, from the heart. I'm not using any lyrics at all, just as I remember it. So, I might mention a few things that aren't in the lyrics. They've added some sounds to it. It even suprised me and I was there. But, I went so deep into it...it sucks me in...and I was there, you know. It was so weird. When it's done, I sit with such a weird feeling like, "what was that?" Then it's back to reality. It can really suck you in, you don't even have to give it a chance. It's quite simple. But, it will affect you and it's a great companion to the lyrics. It's just the story being told.
Paul Autry: Sounds like an experience worth watching.
King Diamond: I can also tell you about the whole packaging. The cover is much more expansive this time. It's gonna be like the horror books this time. You know how, say, Stephen King's name is highlighted on his cover in red silver or something like that. You'll see the strings hanging on to the logo and the blood will be silvery red. You probably have that cover, but, you don't have the actual version for sure.
Paul Autry: Yeah.
King Diamond: They really went out of their way to make this album very, very special with the packaging to.
Paul Autry: Cool. Well, since we're running out of time here, I guess I should ask for your final comments?
King Diamond: Well, I hope you all get a chance to come out and see the show and I hope you give the album a listen because I think you'll get a huge experience out of it. It's not the kind of album that you can listen to once, twice, three times, and you've heard everything. There's so many details and there's a lot of things in there I think people will be able to relate to within themselves, like the song "So Sad." Most people have some sort of a loss with another human being, be it a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a family member, someone not being here anymore. So, that song can make you feel what these characters are going through in this story. There's some heavy emotional things on this album and it's what I had always dreamed of being on a King Diamond album. There's a lot of suprises. But, it's all King Diamond. There's no changes. Only enhancements. There's more King Diamond on this album than
ever before.
