Macabre metal master King Diamond headlines the Fox in Oakland
One of the great voices in modern metal returns to the Bay Area the day before Thanksgiving when King Diamond headlines the Fox Theater in Oakland with support from thrash veterans Overkill and SoCal metal trio Night Demon.
One of the most influential metal vocalists to emerge after the 1970s when he first came to fame fronting Danish band Mercyful Fate, King Diamond would rise to even greater success with the horrifying concept albums he delivered with his eponymous band.
With a voice that ranged from a guttural growl to a soaring falsetto and his sinister, corpse-painted visage, Diamond and Mercyful Fate were pioneers of early black metal thanks to the anthems heard on the band's seminal early '80s albums Melissa and Don't Break the Oath. Though the band split up by 1985 due to musical differences, it's limited output and ferocious live shows (particularly their first U.S. tour supporting Motörhead in 1984) exerted a major influence on Metallica (who recorded a medley of Fate's best tunes on their Garage Inc. covers album), Slayer and a host of extreme metal bands that would follow in their wake.
Diamond would form his eponymous band that initially included Fate guitarist Michael Denner and bassist Timi Hansen, releasing its debut album Fatal Portrait in 1986. After that effort, the group went on to explore a more storytelling approach with the acclaimed horror concept efforts Abigail, "Them" and Conspiracy. Always a menacing figure live with his upside-down bone cross mic stand (made from an actual human femur and tibia), King Diamond upped the theatrics by introducing more elaborate stage craft, including costumed actors and illusionist tricks to flesh out his dark, gothic visions when performing.
Mercyful Fate would reunite in 1993, but Diamond managed to record and tour with both groups through the decade until Fate once again went on hiatus in 1999. The singer and his group put put out more successful concept albums with Abigail II and The Puppet Master during the 2000s, but scaled back it's touring efforts.
Diamond had a major health scare in 2010 when he underwent triple-bypass surgery after suffering multiple heart attacks. The singer eventually made his first post-operation return to the stage in 2011, performing a medley of Mercyful Fate hits with longtime admirers Metallica and old Fate bandmates Hank Shermann, Michael Denner, and Timi Hansen during Metallica's 30th anniversary shows at The Fillmore.
In 2014, Diamond and his band embarked on their first full tour of the U.S. in a decade to ecstatic audiences before joining Slayer the following summer as part of the last ever Rockstar Mayhem Festival in 2015. The next year, Diamond toured performing his the classic Abigail album in its entirety along with other solo hits and Mercyful Fate tracks, playing metal festivals on both sides of the Atlantic and reestablishing the group as a live juggernaut.
Since then, the band has been hard at work on its forthcoming new album, though the release date has been pushed back multiple times (the latest projection being sometime in 2025). The Institute will present King Diamond's latest dark tale of madness and misery set in a mental hospital and marks the band's first new effort in 13 years. The singer's time was occupied for much of 2022 with the latest anticipated Mercyful Fate reunion that saw the band playing its first shows in over two decades. While the band has begun work on a new album, the past year the singer has focused on his solo band.
The current tour finds Diamond playing a career-spanning set of songs along with a trio of songs drawn from The Institute that delve into the sinister history of Saint Lucifer's Hospital in 1920. This time around, his band will feature special guest Mykur (aka Danish singer Amalie Bruun) providing backing vocals and keyboards. The show that comes to the Fox in Oakland on Nov. 27 will also feature support from New York thrash-metal band Overkill -- a group that has been delivering its punishing hardcore-influenced songs for over 40 years -- and Ventura, CA-based traditional metal revivalists Night Demon.
King Diamond with Overkill and Night Demon
Wednesday, Nov. 27, 6 p.m. $78-$239
Fox Theater
