The
Eye is one of my favorite
King Diamond albums and since it was released back in 1990 King has only recently surpassed it with The Puppet Master (and only by a very slight margin). The
Eye is one of
King Diamond's simpler albums and a perfect introduction to his work. The songs are very catchy and don't take long before they stick in your mind and the album shows all the different facets of King's music very well, being filled with raging guitar work, King's insanely cool voice (a matter of taste) and pretty consistent atmosphere.
The major part of the album is set in the 17'th century during the French inquisition, taking up themes like witch burning, religious and sexual exploitation, human sacrifices and of course the big bad, horny priests. It is not a true concept story, meaning that not the whole album is one big story, as so many of
King Diamond's other albums, this is more like a collection of short stories.
A heavy guitar and what sounds like a church organ gives the opening moments of
The eye a great sinister feel. Though not the best song on the album it serves as a nice little introduction. In
The trial things take a darker turn. I love the heavy guitar riff opening this one, taking you back in time, deep down a dungeon of torture where a witch is on trial. The song gives a taste of King's unique vocals while playing prosecutor, victim and narrator all at once. Definitely a highlight.
The execution takes place in
Burn which has a cool thunderous opening. A fast and catchy song with many cool moments. The chilling
Two little girls ís twisted and haunting in its own evil way. A
King Diamond ballad? Hhmmm... With just keyboards and King's voice the song is very different from the rest, but a cool experiment that works extremely well. Worth the price of admission just for the
"No let me have it" line... Brilliant!
The thundering drums are back as
Into the convent kick into gear. King's performance is especially good in this one and the ending part is really powerful and is one of the highlights of the album.
Father Picard is driven by some agressive guitar work. King's voice in the chorus does sound a little out of tune though. Well placed breaks and the lyrics keep up the interest and of course the
"Drink my sweet holy wine" line deserves a special mention.
Behind these walls was a favorite since I first heard it. The killer keyboard intro got me right away. King's voice and the guitar work give this song a forceful drive and makes me try to sing along every time, of course failing miserably... The verse sections are completely brilliant and rising in intensity before the chorus releases. The Finnish band
To/Die/For made a cover version of this song a while ago. It was available on their
website the last time i checked. At the time of writing this review it is under construction, but should be back online soon.
The meetings is my least favorite song of the album. Not to say that it's bad. It is just the song I find least interesting. The instrumental
Insanity is a tranquil acoustic guitar interlude that is very atmospheric and sad.
1642 imprisonment is another favorite. I absolutely love the way King sings the last verse and just the chilling delivery of
"Madeleine was leaving hell" makes me play this over and over.
The curse finishes the album by continuing the story of the first song and with great breaks, catchy melodies and King giving yet another vivid performance, it is a fitting closer to an outstanding album.
In the end I will mention Andy La Roque and Pete Blakk on guitars who are both brilliant, playing one killer lead after another. While it is sad that Snowy Shaw does not play all the drum parts on the album, the drum machine does not bother me enough to take anything away from the album. I actually did not notice this at first and it took several years before I found out.
If you have stayed away from
King Diamond's music for reasons other than not liking the music then you should at least give him a chance. I know several people who dismissed the music because of the extreme image but after looking beyond that they suddenly opened their ears and saw the music for what it really is; High caliber Heavy Metal.
King Diamond's career is filled with unique high quality albums. The
Eye is one highlight among several others and a great place to start discovering the King of Horror Metal.
Written by
Steen Tuesday, August 3, 2004
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