KING DIAMOND — Halloween (review)

KING DIAMOND — Halloween album cover Single · 1986 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Halloween" is a single release by multi-national heavy metal act King Diamond. The single was released through Roadrunner Records in June 1986. It´s a follow up release to the band´s debut full-length studio album "Fatal Portrait" from February 1986. The original release was a limited edition picture disc, 12" vinyl.

The "Halloween" single features 3 tracks and a full playing time of 15:01 minutes. The original A-side features the title track, while the B-side features "The Candle" and "The Lake". Both "Halloween" and "The Candle" are also featured on "Fatal Portrait (1986)", so at the time of release the only track exclusive to this release was "The Lake", which was a leftover track from the "Fatal Portrait (1986)" recording sessions. "The Lake" became more readily available, when it was featured on the EP compilation "The Dark Sides (1988)", so today the "Halloween" single is more than anything a collector´s item.

Stylistically the listener is treated to melodic and theatrical heavy metal with King Diamond´s dramatic high pitched vocals in front. A powerful and hard rocking organic rhythm section, hard edged riffs and blistering melodic solos, and a dark occult atmosphere, which is however not so dark, that there aren´t glimpses of humour here and there. The material is both well produced and well played too, so upon conclusion it´s a high quality single by King Diamond. Its relevance beyond being a hardcore fan item, can maybe be contested (especially after the release of "The Dark Sides (1988)"), but there´s nothing wrong with the material featured on the release and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
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