by JOHNSON CUMMINS

Danish horror-metal howler King Diamond isn't just out to entertain you. He's out to make your skin crawl and blood curdle. Steeped in horror and the macabre, King Diamond's lyrics expertly flesh out sinister characters hellbent on bloodlust, revenge and death. His trademark falsetto vocals first turned the heavy metal world on its ear in the early '80s with the hugely influential band Mercyful Fate, and more recently Diamond has charted an equally successful solo career.

As the clock ticked closer to the witching hour that is Halloween, the Mirror talked to the master of macabre over the phone during a tour stop in Seattle.

Mirror: How did your obsession with horror start?

King Diamond: It goes all the way back to my childhood. My parents always allowed me to go see horror movies like Frankenstein and Dracula and the old black-and-whites. I remember going to bed after watching those movies and being scared that they might come out from under the bed and take me to another land, and then waking up with the relief that it didn't happen.

M: You've had some real-life poltergeist experiences, right?

KD: Yeah, my initial attraction to the occult was from actually seeing things myself. My brother and the first drummer for Mercyful Fate and I were sitting around a table and then we all saw a glass rise into thin air. It started swaying back and forth about two feet over the table before slowly going back down onto the table.

Behind the mask

M: For a guy who dresses up every day, what would be your ultimate Halloween costume?

KD: I suppose I would go with a really sinister Dracula as he was always my favourite. It would be a cross of the old Bela Lugosi and the newer Bram Stoker movie version, but with a King Diamond touch.

M: How did you get into the make-up look?

KD: I went to go see Alice Cooper on the Welcome to My Nightmare tour in '75 in Copenhagen and the way he came across with his make-up made him seem unreal in some way. I felt like, if I could reach out and touch his boot, he would probably disappear. It had a really strong impact on me and right there I knew that if I ever played in a band I would use make-up too.

M: Didn't Gene Simmons from Kiss sue you because he thought your make-up design was infringing on his copyrighted make-up?

KD: It was at a time when Kiss had taken their make-up off and probably needed publicity. My label contacted me and said they had a lawyer's letter threatening me to change my design. It was ridiculous - even a child could tell that my make-up wasn't similar to Gene's. It was eventually dropped.

Grasping the concept

M: A lot of your lyrics are very character-driven, but you manage to show them in a really believable, humanistic light.

KD: Absolutely. I think one of the most fascinating things in this world is the human mind. I don't go out much but if I go out to a bar I will enjoy studying people's behaviour more than having a drink and talking.

M: Your lyrics and concept albums are incredibly well researched and your reputation for being a deft storyteller is equal to your musical ability. Have you ever thought about taking your storytelling outside of the rock 'n' roll medium?

KD: It has always been one of my biggest dreams to see any of my stories on the big screen. I think it would scare the hell out of people if it was done the right way and by the right people. Abigail or Conspiracy would be really great as movies. The character I created called Grandma could easily be just as scary as Jason or Freddy Krueger.

M: Do you come up with a lyrical sketch before you start carving away at the concept?

KD: It starts off as a short story and then, after that, the music writing starts and the chapters of the story will dictate the mood of each piece. After we have written the amount of songs we want on the record, I go back to the short story and divide it up into the amount of chapters according to the amount of songs I have and start the lyrics. It's much more of a challenge to write this way but it's much more satisfying too.

M: Your new record The Puppet Master is another concept album. Can you let us in on what it's about?

KD: Oh man, that would be hard as I get really deep with this story and there is a lot of stuff going on. All I can tell you is that it is set in Budapest in the 18th century and unlike my other stories, good loses out in the end and the character I play in The Puppet Master ends up in a situation that is worse than being dead. It's really freaky and it has a really different twist than what people will know from my previous work.

Houseguest of the high priest of Satanism

M: Your philosophies have been greatly influenced by the writings from the deceased high priest of the Church of Satan, Anton LaVey. Can you explain what an influence he has had on you?

KD: People think that The Satanic Bible is this evil tome but it is just really down-to-earth life philosophy. Before I read that book, I had always led my life exactly like that anyway. I went to libraries and read books on the occult and a lot of those books were written from a Christian perspective and so it didn't quite make sense to me. I heard all of the stories about Satanic groups sacrificing babies and I thought it was insane. When I read The Satanic Bible, I quickly realized that it wasn't really a bible and was shocked to see that the way I had been living my life now appeared in black and white.

M: Did you ever get to meet Anton LaVey?

KD: I actually was privileged enough to visit him at his home in San Francisco on one of my tours. I spent the whole night there.

M: What was that like?

KD: It was great. He had the whole place done up like a horror house. He was an excellent pipe-organ player and played me all of this really moody music that sounded like a horror-movie soundtrack. After that he put on this really smirky smile that only he can do and started singing to me "Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen." He had such a great sense of humour. We also spent an hour and a half in his ritual chamber, which had been sealed off for two years to re-energize. His library was amazing because he had all of these antique books on the occult. There was an iron maiden that he used as a door. It was just an amazing place.

M: Do you consider yourself a Satanist?

KD: I can say that I totally relate and support LaVey's life philosophy, absolutely, and if that makes me a Satanist, then sure. If a Satanist is out to harm other people or drink blood from babies, then I think that is just deeply insane.

M: Do you have Christian friends?

KD: Of course, and I respect their religious right to choose. I have always respected all kinds of religions. It's a private thing and I think we should just be judged on our behaviour and what kind of people we are. I think if people did that the world would be a far better place to live.

With Entombed, Nocturne and Single Bullet Theory at Club Soda on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 7pm, $25, all ages

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