King Diamond-"Abigal"-1987
Alright, let`s get something outta the way here! I`ve NEVER been a fan of ANYTHING King Dimaond did on his own! With one exception: "Abigal". This album is quite literally, a ghost story set to music,and what a spooky tale it is! It concerns a young 18th century couple whose lives are being destroyed by the spirit of a long dead child, who has taken possession of their own uborn child. Brrrrr! VERY creepy! This Heavy Metal/Hammer films horror flick also happens to be the the closest thing KD did to Mercyful Fate, in terms of the evil, ominous feel of tunes like "A Mansion In Darkness", "The Famiy Ghost", & "The 7th Day of July, 1777". Listen to this one with the lights off, I DARE ya!
Lizzy Borden-"Give `Em The Axe"-1984
One of Metal Blades` earliest releases, Lizzy Borden [the band AND the man] were sort of an Alice Cooper for the `80s` [wielding an axe on stage, decapitating dolls heads, you know the drill!] but much faster and heavier. On this EP at least, Lizzys` air-raid siren vocals combined with the guitar tag-team of Gene Allen & Tony Matuzak to give the bands crunchy, heavy, melodic tunes that extra PUNCH. "Kiss Of Death", "Give `Em The Axe", a fine cover of Rainbows` "Long Live Rock & Roll", and "Rod Of Iron" just plain ROCKED! Later releases didn`t have the same impact as this one; they weren`t BAD, but they weren`t much, either!