KING DIAMOND — In Concert 1987: Abigail (review)

KING DIAMOND — In Concert 1987: Abigail album cover

Live album · 1990 · Heavy Metal

3.5/5 · 2023-11-04
UMUR

"In Concert 1987: Abigail" is live album by multi-national heavy metal act King Diamond. The album was recorded in 1987 on the tour supporting the band´s second full-length studio album "Abigail (1987)", but it didn´t see a release until December 1990 through Roadrunner Records. Guitarist Michael Denner left King Diamond after the recording of "Abigail (1987)", and 19 years old Swedish guitarist Mike Moon (real name Mikael Myllynen) was hired for the tour supporting the album. "In Concert 1987: Abigail" is the only King Diamond featuring his playing, as he was replaced by Pete Blakk after the tour ended.

The album tracklist naturally features a lot of tracks from "Abigail (1987)", but "Fatal Portrait (1986)" is also fairly well represented with "The Portrait" and "The Candle". In addition to those tracks "In Concert 1987: Abigail" features the Mercyful Fate track "Come to the Sabbath", the King Diamond single track "No Presents for Christmas", and a guitar- and a drum solo. 12 tracks in all and a total playing time of 52:49 minutes. The most glaring omission from the early part of King Diamond´s discography is probably "Halloween".

The 1987 King Diamond band are well playing, and although not all solos are perfectly executed and King Diamond sometimes hits the notes just a little out of key, the performances are overall of a good quality and there is a raw energy to the proceedings, which provides the right air of authenticity to the recording. It´s a warts and all type of live recording (I´m pretty sure that aren´t any studio overdubs) and the volumes are therefore a bit up an down (especially on the vocals, which occasionally are very low in the mix), but it´s not a lo-fi bootleg sound quality.

King Diamond says a few words to the audience between the tracks (typically just that this is a track from this album or something along the lines of that), and you can hear the audience a couple of times during the album too, so there is an authentic live atmosphere to the album. The tracklist is well chosen although I could have done without both the guitar and the drum solo. In the 80s those were mandatory during many shows though, so it´s a bit harsh to be too negative about the inclusion in a retrospective review written over 30 years after the show was played. It was another time with different trends. Tracks like "The Family Ghost", "The 7th Day of July 1777", "The Possession", and "The Portrait" are some of the highlights.

As a raw and unpolished documentation of how The 1987 King Diamond band sounded, "In Concert 1987: Abigail" is a release well worth listening to, but the sound production does leave a bit to be desired, and personally I could have lived with some loss of rawness and authenticity if a few overdubs had made the album a little more pleasant on the ears. As it is "In Concert 1987: Abigail" is still a worthwhile (although not mandatory) release by King Diamond. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.