KING DIAMOND — No Presents For Christmas (review)

KING DIAMOND — No Presents For Christmas album cover Single · 1985 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"No Presents for Christmas" is a single release by multi-national heavy metal act King Diamond. The single was released through Roadrunner Records on December 25, 1985. It was the band´s first label release after Mercyful Fate disbanded and lead vocalist King Diamond opted to form a new band bearing his stage name. The original King Diamond band was a Danish/Swedish collaboration, featuring the two Swedes Andy LaRocque (guitars) and Mikkey Dee (drums) and the three Danes (and former members of Mercyful Fate) Michael Denner (guitars), Timi Hansen (bass), and King Diamond (lead vocals).

The single features two tracks and a full playing time of 8:29 minutes. "No Presents for Christmas" is, as the name and the release date of the single suggest, a twisted heavy metal take on a Christmas carol. Great powerful riffs and rhythms, melodic guitar leads, high pitched singing and humorous lyrics, and a nice middle section featuring several melody sections from well known Christmas carols (Personally I play it to the kids every year about a week before Christmas, while laughing my most evil villain laugh...muahahah..muahhahah). "No Presents for Christmas" are also featured on the compilation EP "The Dark Sides (1988)". "Charon" is the B-side track to the single, and it would also appear on the band´s debut full-length studio album "Fatal Portrait (1986)".

Listening to the single it´s instantly clear that King Diamond had something special going on. It´s slightly more melodic, and also features a touch of theatrical humour, which sets King Diamond´s music apart from the generally darker and more occult oriented Mercyful Fate. "Charon" is of course quite a dark mythological character, and that track displays that King Diamond (the band) master both the dark and the light atmospheres.

The material is well produced, and the band are very well playing too, and as the songwriting is also top notch, "No Presents for Christmas" is a quality release through and through. Today it´s a collector´s item more than anything, as both tracks are more readily available on other releases, but back then this was a sign of things to come. A sort of teaser release to "Fatal Portrait (1986)". A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
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