King Diamond / Mercenary / After All
12 June 2006
Camden Electric Ballroom
It's not that After All are particularly bad, they're just, well ...boring.
I'd actually given the band's last album, The Vermin Breed, a spin earlier in the day and had similarly lost interest quite quickly. The band's brand of thrash is just too safe for my tastes. Tick all the required Slayer boxes and when that's done play a cover by, Slayer!
Not that the After All are Slayer clones. In fact they remind me of a host of third rate thrash bands that flooded the scene and eventually drowned it.
Vocalist Piet Focroul has bags of enthusiasm and the guitars of Christophe Depree and Dries Van Damme chug away nicely. Nice isn't enough though.
After All setlist included:
Reasonable Doubt / Frozen Skin / The Shadow Wall / The Insufferable / Unnamed Sorrow / Reign In Blood
Since they last played the UK Mercenary have replaced bassist Kral and have a new album in the can awaiting release.
I was intrigued to see the effect of Kral's departure as he seemed to be the key force behind the band's more death metal past and was a very strong presence on stage to the point of unbalancing. New bassist Rene Pedersen fits in solidly and also handled the backing vocals. Kral's departure seems to have really taken the shackles off vocalist Mikkel Sandager who can now be described as the band's frontman. Sandager is much more animated and his enthusiasm almost gets the better of him with a lot of shrieking in the early part of the set. Once he settled down however, he was on fine form and Jon, from Biomechanical, is the only other frontman I can think of that can sustain such high pitch singing.
New song Soul Decision bodes well for new album The Hours That Remain, seemingly carrying on from 11 Dreams. But it's the last two numbers Loneliness and 11 Dreams itself where everything really clicks into gear. Mercenary create an awesome wall of noise packed with hooks and embellished with Martin Pedersen's awesome guitar work.
Mercenary setlist:
World Hate Center / Firesoul / Soul Decision / Loneliness / 11 Dreams
Last time King Diamond was in London back in 2001, he was suffering from laryngitis but bravely went ahead with the show to a very supportive crowd. Tonight`s show was a completely different story however, with the King firing on all cylinders and a magnificent stage performance.
Robed men with hoods up shuffled on to a droning backing tape, assembling a mock wrought iron fence right across the entire front of the stage (which was apparently a bit of a nightmare for the photographers!). Eventually the Funeral intro from Abigail commenced with the King appearing in front of the drum riser, lit by atmospheric lights from below. Speaking along with the intro, King raised a baby from a coffin. The band appeared and kicked into Arrival with the crowd joining in the cry of "That Must Be It!".
Choice cuts from Abigail followed with flawless guitar work from Andy La Rocque and Mike Wead. La Rocque may be the more recognised guitar hero, but Wead`s work was equally impressive. The pair make use of mounted acoustic guitars for the final song of the Abigail section, Black Horsemen.
We then speed forward to Abigail II with the Spare This Life Intro leading into Mansion In Sorrow with King leading the crowd during the chorus. King Diamond`s album aren`t generally packed with songs that warrant sing-a-longs and hence the amount of crowd participation was impressive. The fact that the band appeared on fire tonight seemed to fuel the audience response. It`s also not just the King egging the crowd on, with both guitarists beaming from ear to ear and Hal Patino soon stripped down to bare chest and his trademark stripy trousers, bouncing around the front of the stage.
At this point the fence was deconstructed and we journey back to King`s Mercyful Fate days with Come To The Sabbath. Eye of The Witch leads into a solo spot for drummer Matt Thompson and a chance for the rest of the band to take a breather.
The squealing guitar intro to Sleepless Nights gave way to picking and King`s falsetto, before head`s are sent bobbing once more. Blood To Walk takes us to the most recent album The Puppet Master, possible the band`s most impressive for a number of years. The material seems familiar to this crowd with a strong response of "Blood To See" on King`s demand. King`s theatrics continued throughout the set, adding to the drama of the music. At various intervals he is joined by an actress and during this number she is reanimated.
Onto Them, and Welcome was stunning. You just had to scream along with "Grandmaaaa!!!" preferably at someone not suspecting it (apologies Lee, hehe!). For this Grandma is brought on in a wheelchair but is soon dancing round the stage. Following The Invisible Guests, King tells us this is the last night of the tour and he pays a special tribute to each member of the road crew who are brought on to take a bow. A nice touch.
To wrap things up Halloween, from Fatal Portrait, and Mercyful Fate`s Evil, sent home a happy crowd with evil smiles on their faces. I`d hoped and expected to enjoy this show, but it seriously left me blown away. Awesome!
King Diamond setlist:
Funeral / Arrival / A Mansion In Darkness / The Family Ghost / Black Horsemen / Spare This Life / Mansion In Sorrow / Come To The Sabbath / Eye Of The Witch / Sleepless Nights / Blood To Walk / So Sad / Welcome Home / The Invisible Guests / Halloween / Evil
LINKS:
King Diamond
Mercenary
After All
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