Artist: King Diamond
Label: Metal Blade Records
Release Date: 1/29/02
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Title: Abigail II: The Revenge Artist: King Diamond Label: Metal Blade Records Release Date: 1/29/02 |
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Abyss's Review:
The evil Danish imp returns with a sequel to his classic Abigail, and this time it's personal. Cleverly titled, Abigail II: The Revenge (apparently in a homage to the fourth installment in the Jaws series), King plays soap opera and brings back the deceased little girl so that she can have her... what else?... revenge. King Diamond doing a concept album-- who'd a thunk it?
"King Diamond doing a concept album-- who'd a thunk it?" King returns with the formidable axe duo of LaRocque and Wead, original Abigail bassist Hal Patino, and new drummer Matt Thompson. His surrounding band is stellar, as it always is, but when an artist decides to revert to a classic period in their career, it can cause the listener problems. As a critic, should it be easier to give a good review to a "sequel" due to the fact that it is building on an already sound foundation, or should one scrutinize it more, expecting it to live up to its predecessor? The answer is probably somewhere in the middle, but I must admit, I generally lean toward the latter.
As every King Diamond album depends on story a great deal, I'll not give away any of the plot (the CD comes with a family tree which diagrams the situation), but I will say that it's what one would expect from King. Rather intricate, with some surprises, and King's trademark eerie feel, it hits the spot in many ways, but feels forced in others. It has an 'evil twin' soap opera feel to it, like when a soap opera kills off a character and then brings them back in some lame way, either by making them an evil twin, or with some other outrageous leap. Of course, when you're dealing with the supernatural, as King always does, who's to say what's realistic? So while bringing Abigail back seems a bit forced, I must say I was intrigued from the get go. And while this story isn't King's best (I think his spookiest story is Them), it holds your attention, and you find yourself happy that the story is being continued, kinda like with Star Wars: Episode One. It's not as good, but I'm happy it's there.
Musically, this album is all King all of the time, but the songs don't strike me as very consistent. Some of them smoke, my early favorites being "The Storm," "The Wheelchair" and "The Mommy" (oops! I mean, "Mommy," I just got carried away with the use of the word 'the'). But many of the songs seem a little too concerned with getting narrative across, and the composition as a whole suffers for it. Basically what I'm saying is that I wish King would shut up every once in a while. But we all know by now that I never really liked his voice anyway. Longtime fans will be happy to know that he still sounds like a pre-pubescent choirboy (I'm sorry, an evil pre-pubescent choirboy). The songwriting on this one is probably a little lower than House of God, but the solos are a step above. Mr. LaRocque and Mr. Wead do a commendable job of creating solos that maintain technical prowess, but also flow effortlessly into and out of the rest of the music.
"Basically what I'm saying is that I wish King would shut up every once in a while." So the bottom line is that this is just what one would expect from a sequel-- not as good as the original, but a hell of a lot of fun. And while this album isn't quite as consistent as King's last one, it's a solid effort through and through, so I guess his stature as metal hero remains intact. One word review: Nostalgic (and damn good!)
Death's Review:
I like King, and I know what to expect from him. Abigail 2: The Revenge is exactly what you think it is if you have been paying any attention at all to King Diamond's career for the last few years. It is themed as a follow-up to what was probably King's best album (I also liked Them an awful lot), but in reality it is simply the next King Diamond record with the nostalgia-filled theme overlaid. I have to admit that I haven't poured over every detail and it has been some time since I've listened to the original Abigail album. But I don't hear recurring musical themes or references to the original a la Dream Theater's Metropolis 2000 or Savatage's "When the Crowds Have Gone"/ "Believe."
"In reality it is simply the next King Diamond record with the nostalgia-filled theme overlaid." So it is easy to be a bit cynical about the idea of reviving the Abigail concept. Rather than simply write an all new story for the new record, why not evoke your arguably best-known solo work (or at least the one with the video they play on VH1's Rock Show) by simply continuing the characters and narrative in a sequel?. But this stuff ain't no "Family Ghost." It's simply not as catchy. Still, I understand that King envisions a whole live production with performances of the full Abigail and Abigail 2 records with an intermission of a few other classics in between. We'll see if this show ever comes together but it would be very cool to see. At least it shows he is taking advantage of the idea of unifying the old Abigail and the new.
Musically, King picks up pretty much where he left off with House of God, although perhaps it has a bit less of the warm guitar tones and Mercyful Fate-style riffs than that album did. I suppose Abigail 2 steps closer back to the tone of Abigail, especially in the Andy LaRocque soloing. The packaging is pretty cool, with a "Family History" chart in the middle of the booklet to help you understand the relationships between Abigail and Jonathan LaFey, Count De La Fey and Miriam Natias (Remember? "Mir-y-am Nay-tee-ass and... Jonathan LaFeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyy!!!!!!") and the rest of the old gang (but who the fuck is Gregory O'Brien?). Travis Smith is responsible for the cool artwork.
"Bottom line?... All is well and as you'd expect in King Diamond land." All in all, a fine quality King Diamond release, and definitely fun if you are a fan. I don't think there is anything new going on here, but I love the King and will definitely be out drinking beers and banging my head when his band comes through town touring for the new record. Bottom line? Original Abigail bassist Hal Pitino is back with the band, and the King has a new drummer, but all is well and as you'd expect in King Diamond land. Or try this overdose of descriptiveness: Abigail 2 is an adventurous horror-concept tale set to first class power/thrash/black with melodic guitars, a lot of double-bass and solos, with a fair amount of plodding power chords and lots of changes. If you're not already down, this isn't gonna get you there, but you may see slightly increased album sales as some older fans return to the fold to check out the sequel.
Hel's Review:
King Diamond, the man, is one of those artists who falls into one of two categories: people either love him, or love to hate him. He is, undeniably, a strong personality. Aside from the black and white make up and top hat, his most distinctive aspect is that of consummate storyteller. Each new album he writes for the band, King Diamond, is driven by a concept, usually a very well developed one. Not content to just tell his story through his lyrics, he uses his voice to emphasize and act out his story. His live performances take this one step further, with King emoting and gesticulating all over the place, generally aided by an elaborate stage set of his own design, with actors in costume filling out the picture.
According to the history provided on the official fan site, Abigail, was the band's first concept album. Seven concept albums later, here turns to the story that started it all. Abigail II: The Revenge, like all sequels, strives to answer the question, "And then what happened?" Though King is not a singer who is particularly difficult to understand, he has thoughtfully provided all the lyrics to all the songs so you may experience the story from beginning to end, without missing a twist or turn.
"King Diamond is, undeniably, a strong personality."
Musically, this album firmly follows the King Diamond tradition. The performances are top quality, with perfect, deliberate production. You can be assured of one thing when you buy a King Diamond record: the man has thoroughly deliberated over every single detail, down to the last note. That kind of attention and care is obvious, and can clearly be found on this record, which may be the nearest and dearest to his heart to date, considering the subject matter must be one he has been internally debating for years.
"The performances are top quality, with perfect, deliberate production." So what prevents me from giving it the ultimate score? Simply put, this is clearly a tough year to put out a record-- I just can't give every record five skulls, and every one I've heard so far this year has been outstanding. Last year would have been a different story, but that is neither here nor there. Abigail II is a mandatory purchase for the King Diamond enthusiast. And if you're in the anti-King camp, you know my opinion won't change your mind, and so do I.
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