UMUR
"Conspiracy" is the 4th full-length studio album by multi-national heavy metal act King Diamond. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in August 1989. It´s the successor to "Them" from 1988 and it´s a sequel to the concept horror story which began on the predecessor. The lineup who recorded "Them (1988)" is intact on "Conspiracy", but drummer Mikkey Dee had actually left the band prior to the recordings, and recorded his parts as a session musician.
"Them (1988)" ended with King being accused of the murder of his sister and him being committed to a lunatic asylum. "Conspiracy" starts with King returning to the house of Amon as an adult, having spend many years at the asylum under the care of Dr. Landau. He encounters the spirits of "Them" and makes a deal with them, that they can once again return to the house of Amon, in return for them helping King connect to his dead sister. Missy speaks to King in dreams and warns him of an evil plot to eliminate him. A plot conceived by his mother and Dr. Landau, who are now lovers and want to get rid of King and take possession of the house of Amon. Dr. Landau drugs King, and he is ultimately burned alive but swears from beyond the grave that he will return to haunt his morther and Dr. Landau. While it is not stated specifically, I´m guessing as one of the spirits of "Them".
Stylistically the material on "Conspiracy" continue the horror themed, melodic and theatrical heavy metal style of the preceding albums. King Diamond´s distinct sounding voice and high pitched singing style is as present as ever, and the many clever choirs and backing vocals are also an important part of the sound. The instrumental part of the sound combines traditional heavy metal riffs and rhythms, with the occasional harder edged thrash metal influenced part, and progressive songwriting ideas (the use of keyboards is more prominent here than on any of the preceding releases). One of the most important assets of the album are the many incredibly well played guitar solos and harmonies. Not only are the solos played with great skill and conviction, but they are obviously "composed" with great care and flair for melodic details. My jaw always drops when listening to the solos on "Conspiracy" and I am send directly into air guitar ecstasy (I was gonna write heaven, but decided against it, as I am after all reviewing a King Diamond album).
The musicianship is on a high level on all posts, although Dee to my ears doesn´t put on his best performance. He of course delivers his parts with great skill and conviction, but the drumming is generally not as creative as on the first couple of releases, when he was still a permanent member of the band. It´s hard to pick highlights from an album like "Conspiracy", because it deserves and needs to be listened to from start to finish. Not only because of the concept story, but also because the tracklist is arranged to be a musical journey, but if I have to pick a couple of standout tracks it would probably be the epic 8:56 minutes long opener "At the Graves", "Sleepless Nights" (which the band shot a video for), and "Victimized". I know it´s considered a "classic" and the band often play it at shows, but personally my blood never boils while listening to the closing instrumental "Cremation", but I´m prepared to let that go down as an example of individual taste rather than label "Cremation" a bad quality track. The short instrumental "Something Weird" is on the other hand quite brilliant.
"Conspiracy" features a powerful, detailed, and sharp sounding production, which suits the music perfectly, and upon conclusion it´s through and through a high quality release. It´s not just all the basics which are in place and which are of high quality (sound production, songwriting, and musicianship), but it´s the uniqueness of "Conspiracy", both within King Diamond´s discography and on the metal scene in general, which propels it to excellence. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is fully deserved.