King Diamond – known to his mum as Kim Bendix Petersen – found fame and a degree of notoriety during the early 80s as frontman and lyricist with the highly influential satanic metal band Mercyful Fate.
During the 90s he was a solo artist, before the first of several Mercyful Fate reunions. He's currently on tour in Europe, with a pair of UK shows scheduled for next week.
In 2013 you told Classic Rock about your new healthy lifestyle. Are you still reaping the benefits of it?
That was only three years after my triple bypass operation, so absolutely. I’m still doing exactly what the doctors told me. I stopped smoking and began eating differently. Salt is completely out of my diet.
And the changes benefit your voice?
Oh my! Yes. Back in 2011 I was a part of Metallica’s [30th anniversary] concert at the Fillmore in San Francisco [where along with Metallica and several Mercyful Fate members King performed a medley of the band’s standards]. It was the first time I had tried singing after the surgery, during which three metal rods were inserted in my chest. I changed the entire way I sing. The improved lung capacity makes it easier holding long notes.
Last December you released a brand new song, Spider Lilly, as part of a forthcoming Horror Trilogy. When can we expect the first instalment, Saint Lucifer’s Hospital 1920?
It’s hard to say. During a show on the last tour I fell down a staircase and almost broke both ankles. But at the moment I am writing for both Mercyful Fate and King Diamond. For Mercyful Fate there are four songs, but King Diamond is almost done. I have song titles for all three albums.
It’s eighteen years since your last solo album, Give Me Your Soul…
Please. [Exasperated] Oh my god. There have been so many setbacks.
On social media the fans are getting impatient. On Facebook someone complained: “Even Tool didn’t take this long.”
Everybody is complaining. I’m getting impatient, too. But there are things nobody knows. I could have died three times since 2010.
Three times?!
I’m being serious. In hospital, at one point my blood pressure was more than three hundred… they couldn’t even measure it [a reading of around 120 is considered normal]. The doctor said: “You should not be here.” And there were three similar episodes. After another example, a heart doctor told me: “Had you gone to Germany on tour [as planned] you would definitely be dead.” For a while I was uncertain whether or not I could tour again.
Fortunately that’s all in the past, and a pair of solo dates in Manchester and London loom. Will we hear some of your new material?
You will hear Spider Lilly, absolutely, and another new one, Electro Therapy. But there will be a lot of old stuff – Funeral, Arrival and A Mansion In Darkness from Abigail [1987] – plus Voodoo [title track of an album from 1998] and Eye Of The Witch [from 1990’s The Eye] now has a real organ, which used to be on tape. After many, many years, Abigail is now back. I think it’s a great set.
For any King Diamond virgins out there, it’s also a theatrical show.
Yeah. I wear different masks and coats. When they [the newcomers] see it they will realise it’s a little different. Ghosts fly around. It’s like a horror show set to music.
King Diamond plays Manchester on June 30 and London the following day. For full European schedule and tickets, visit the King Diamond website.
