King Diamond

King Diamond (born Kim Bendix Petersen, Copenhagen, Denmark, on June 14, 1956) is a Grammy Award nominated heavy metal musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his extensive vocal range, in particular his usage of falsetto. He is the lead vocalist for both Mercyful Fate, and the eponymous King Diamond.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Career
o 1.1 Mercyful Fate
o 1.2 King Diamond
* 2 Stage presence
* 3 Influences
* 4 Religious beliefs
* 5 Marital status
* 6 Discography
* 7 Awards
* 8 References
* 9 External links

[edit] Career
[edit] Mercyful Fate
Main article: Mercyful Fate

King Diamond's first DK heavy rock band, with whom he played guitar, was called Brainstorm (1974–76), with Jeanette Blum (Jean Blue) vocal and bass, Michael Frohn (Mike West) guitar and Jes Jacobsen (Jesse James) drums. King Diamond left Brainstorm and began singing with a local Danish hard rock band Black Rose. It was during this time in Black Rose that King Diamond began experimenting with horror themed theatrics as well as shaping a malevolent quasi-Satanic stage persona. In 1980, he left Black Rose and joined the punk-metal band Brats where he met the three musicians (Hank Shermann, Michael Denner, Rak Hiasat, Timi Hansen) that would join with King Diamond in 1980 to become Mercyful Fate.

Following Mercyful Fate's 1984 release of Don't Break The Oath and the subsequent tour (which saw them play in the U.S. for the first time), King Diamond split ways with Mercyful Fate. With him, he took two of his bandmates (Hansen and Denner) to pursue a solo career under his own name.

Mercyful Fate reunited in 1992 (while King Diamond simultaneously continued his solo career) and recorded five more studio albums. In 1999 King decided to put Mercyful Fate on hold and continue on with his solo career. Though Mercyful Fate continues to remain dormant, the band is still under contract with Metal Blade Records. Also in 1999, King Diamond and Hank Shermann performed the song Mercyful Fate with Metallica live. This performance also has King Diamond without his famous makeup. In recent interviews, King Diamond has stated that Mercyful Fate will record and tour again when the timing is right, saying "It's definitely not finished.".[1]
[edit] King Diamond
Main article: King Diamond (band)

In 2001, King Diamond worked out a deal with the band Usurper to sing backup vocals on the song "Necronemesis" in exchange for them shifting their recording schedule around to accommodate the recording of Abigail II: The Revenge. In 2004, King Diamond contributed vocals to "Sweet Dreams", which was the final track on the album of Dave Grohl's heavy metal side project Probot. In late 2005, King Diamond appeared on the Roadrunner United - The All-Star Sessions album, contributing vocals for his song "In the Fire", which featured multiple Roadrunner Records musicians (past and present) working together to create individual songs. King Diamond also guested on the Cradle of Filth song "Devil Woman" in late 2005.

In April 2006, King reunited with Mikkey Dee (Motörhead drummer) at a sold-out gig at Kåren in Gothenburg, Sweden.[2] In 2001 King referred to Dee as "one of the best [drummers] of all time and that's something that has bothered us since he left."[3]

King Diamond released his album Give Me Your Soul... Please, on June 26, 2007. Following the release the band received a Grammy nomination in the "Best Metal Performance" category for the track "Never Ending Hill".[4] He was forced to cancel a United States tour due to a herniated disk, causing severe back pain, which puts him in intense pain almost all of the time.[5] He attributes the problem to the long stressful hours spent working on the album.

King Diamond made an appearance at Ozzfest on August 9, 2008 at Frisco, TX alongside Metallica, performing a medley of Mercyful Fate songs previously released on Metallica's Garage Inc. album. Earlier in the day, he also performed a cover of the Pantera song "New Level" with Vinnie Paul, Scott Ian, Max Cavalera, and Nick Bowcott.[1]

In 2009, King Diamond was revealed to be a character for the rhythm game Guitar Hero: Metallica, appearing with Mercyful Fate's song "Evil".[2]
[edit] Stage presence

On stage, King Diamond uses a microphone handle consisting of a femur bone and a tibia bone in the shape of a cross. King Diamond had previously used a human skull which was called Melissa, on stage. In the mid-1980s Melissa was stolen after a performance in the Netherlands.

King Diamond has changed the design of his make-up often over the years. With Conspiracy, he wore a mesh of black and white line war paint, with some red "blood" made to look like a wound coming out of his forehead. With his album The Puppet Master, he used very little white and mainly had black inverted crosses going up and down his face.
[edit] Influences

King Diamond cites David Byron, Ian Gillan, Robert Plant, Alice Cooper, Rob Halford, Ronnie James Dio and Ozzy Osbourne as his main vocal influences.[6]
[edit] Religious beliefs

King Diamond stated that he does not follow any specific religion, and expressed concern that religion has led so many people to kill and destroy each other. He stated that he cannot comprehend why religion has caused so much death and destruction when it is logically impossible to prove the presence or absence of any god. He states that he has reached a point in his life where he has completely given up believing in anything religious.[7]
[edit] Marital status

King Diamond is married to Livia Zita, a Hungarian-born singer who has made appearances as a backup vocalist on the albums The Puppet Master and Give Me Your Soul... Please, as well as during live performances. She is also his business partner, and is currently working with him to compile old footage for two planned DVD releases of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate live performances, as well as helping him make remastered editions of the King Diamond albums The Spider's Lullabye, The Graveyard, Voodoo and House of God.[8]
[edit] Discography

* King Diamond discography
* Mercyful Fate discography

[edit] Awards

* 2008- Grammy nomination in the "Best Metal Performance" category for the track "Never Ending Hill".[4]

[edit] References

1. ^ "KING DIAMOND: MERCYFUL FATE 'Is Definitely Not Finished, At Least In My Book'". Blabbermouth.net. March 8, 2008. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=92517. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
2. ^ "MOTÖRHEAD's MIKKEY DEE Jams With KING DIAMOND In Sweden". Blabbermouth.net. April 21, 2006. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=51287. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
3. ^ "Diamonds Are Forever: An Exclusive Interview With King Diamond". KNAC. December 31, 2001. http://knac.com/article.asp?ArticleID=167. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
4. ^ a b "KING DIAMOND Comments On GRAMMY Nomination". Blabbermouth.net. December 6, 2007. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=86262. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
5. ^ "KING DIAMOND On Tour Cancellation". Blabbermouth.net. November 24, 2007. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=85506. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
6. ^ "King Diamond Interview". tartareandesire.com. 2005-05. http://www.tartareandesire.com/interviews/kingdiamond.html. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
7. ^ "King Diamond Interview". heavymetal.dk. 2006-02-27. http://www.heavymetal.dk/interviews_view.php?id=101. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
8. ^ "King Diamond is Madly in Love With His 24-Year-Old Wife". Blabbermouth.net. 2009-01-04. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/BLABBERMOUTH.NET/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=111860. Retrieved 2009-06-20.

[edit] External links

* Coven Worldwide – Official website
* Official Brazilian Fan Club
* The U.S. Coven
* King Diamonds Image Factory
* The Temple of the King
* The Darkness Coven
* The Spanish Coven
* The French Coven
* Very Cool Shockwave Clips
* Interviews with King Diamond band members Mikki Dee, Pete Blakk, and Andy LaRocque

[show]
v • d • e
Mercyful Fate
King Diamond · Mike Wead · Hank Shermann · Bjarne T. Holm · Sharlee D'Angelo
Michael Denner · Timi Hansen · Kim Ruzz · Snowy Shaw · Morten Nielsen
Discography
Studio albums
Melissa (1983) · Don't Break the Oath (1984) · In the Shadows (1993) · Time (1994) · Into the Unknown (1996) · Dead Again (1998) · 9 (1999)
EPs
The Mercyful Fate EP (1982) · The Bell Witch EP (1994)
Compilation albums
The Beginning (1987) · A Dangerous Meeting (1992) · Return of the Vampire (1992) · The Best of Mercyful Fate (2003)
[show]
v • d • e
King

Between the Buried and Me

Between the Buried and Me is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Since their inception in 2000, they have released five studio albums, one cover album and one live DVD/CD. Their follow-up to Colors, titled The Great Misdirect, was released October 27, 2009.

The band's name is derived from a section of lyrics in the Counting Crows song "Ghost Train"; "Took the cannonball down to the ocean/Across the desert from the sea to shining sea/I rode a ladder that climbed across the nation/Fifty million feet of earth between the buried and me".
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Biography
* 2 Touring
* 3 Musical style and influence
* 4 Band members
* 5 Discography
* 6 Other projects
* 7 References
* 8 External links

[edit] Biography

The band was founded in 2000 in Raleigh, North Carolina by vocalist Tommy Rogers, guitarist Paul Waggoner, drummer Will Goodyear, guitarist Nick Fletcher (formerly of Empire Falls), and bassist Jason King.[1] They selected their band name by taking a line of lyrics from the Counting Crows song, "Ghost Train". [2]

Between the Buried and Me's first release was a three-song demo, containing the tracks "Use of a Weapon," "What We Have Become," and "More of Myself to Kill." These three tracks were re-recorded for the band's self-titled debut album, released through Lifeforce Records in 2002. The album includes the track "Arsonist," a protest against the beliefs and practices of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. The song "Aspirations" became the band's first music video. This album is not widely known and the songs from it are rarely played live. However, the release of it did gain the attention of Victory Records, to which they later signed. Victory Records reissued the album in 2004 as an enhanced CD.

In 2003, the band released their second studio album, The Silent Circus, featuring the singles "Mordecai", "Aesthetic", and "Camilla Rhodes".[3] "Mordecai" was produced as their second music video. The album was re-released in 2006 with a live DVD of the band's performance at The Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on July 17, 2005. Mark Castillo played drums on The Silent Circus replacing Will Goodyear however, on the live DVD Blake Richardson, Dustie Waring, and Dan Briggs had already joined the band and recording for Alaska was already finished.

After the release of The Silent Circus, the band went through numerous members before the current lineup was assembled for the third album, Alaska. On drums, Mark Castillo was replaced by Jason Roe (later replaced by Blake Richardson). On guitar, Nick Fletcher was replaced by Shane Blay (later replaced by Dustie Waring). And on bass, Jason King was replaced by Kevin Falk (later replaced by Dan Briggs). Once the current lineup had been established, frontman Tommy Giles Rogers joked that it is the final lineup, and that he would quit if anymore lineup changes needed to take place. The band's lineup has not changed since that statement.

In the summer of 2005, Between the Buried and Me released their third studio album, Alaska. The title track "Alaska" became their third music video. The album released the songs "Selkies: The Endless Obsession", "The Primer", and "Backwards Marathon" as singles. Then in the following year, the band released The Anatomy Of, a collection of covers of bands that influenced Between the Buried and Me, including Metallica, King Crimson, Pantera, Queen, Pink Floyd, Earth Crisis, Counting Crows, and Soundgarden.

In September 2007, the band released their fourth studio album, Colors. The band has said that "it's a 65 minute opus of non stop pummeling beautiful music... we have described this release as 'new wave polka grunge.'"[4] The band has also described the album as "adult contemporary progressive death metal."[5]

On November 6, 2008 the song "Prequel to the Sequel" was made available as downloadable content for Rock Band on Xbox Live marketplace and the PlayStation store.[6]

On May 31, 2009, the group went into the studio to record their fifth original album The Great Misdirect. They have described one song as having "a noisy Coalesce breakdown, 3/4 Mastodon groove, 9/8 The Mars Volta, Queen chromatic build up, and Megadeth chorus"[7]. Tommy Giles Rogers had stated that they planned to "out do Colors".[8] In early fall 2010, the group announced that they are recording an EP, possibly a precursor for their next full-length album. [9]
[edit] Touring
Crystal Clear app kedit.svg
This article or section may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards, as This is simply an unverified list of tour dates.. You can help. The discussion page may contain suggestions. (May 2009)

In early 2006, Between the Buried and Me was on tour supporting Bleeding Through along with Every Time I Die and Haste the Day. They were also on the Ozzfest 2006 Second Stage.[10] In late 2006, they were on the Radio Rebellion Tour headlined by Norma Jean.[11]

In September 2007, after the release of Colors, the band went on tour with Animosity and Horse the Band. Giant (now known as BraveYoung) also supported their shows in the USA. The run concluded with their November 4 appearance at the Saints and Sinners Fest in Asbury Park, New Jersey. In December 2007, they again embarked on a headlining tour, supported by August Burns Red and Behold... The Arctopus. The band were also the main support on The Dillinger Escape Plan's 2008 U.K. tour. Between the Buried and Me were one of the acts that took part at "Progressive Nation '08," the first in what became an annual progressive music festival.

Starting in summer 2008 and continuing in the fall, they performed as a supporting act for Children of Bodom's U.S. headlining tour, alongside The Black Dahlia Murder. In early December 2008, they went on a short 4-show tour around the Carolinas and Georgia (US) with other Carolina based bands, such as He Is Legend, Advent, and Nightbear. Between The Buried and Me finished a month-long tour of Australia on January 9 with headliners Bleeding Through, As Blood Runs Black, In Trenches and The Abandonment. In September 2009, Between The Buried and Me performed a Canadian Tour with Killswitch Engage and In Flames co-headlining, along with the support of Protest the Hero.[12]

In early 2010, Between the Buried and Me toured across North America with Cynic, Devin Townsend, and Scale the Summit.[13] Afterwards, they traveled to Europe supporting Lamb of God, along with Job for a Cowboy and August Burns Red.

In February 2010, Between the Buried and Me helped support Mastodon along with Baroness on their US headlining tour. During the summer of 2010, they were on the Cool Tour with As I Lay Dying, Underoath, War of Ages, The Acacia Strain, Architects, Cancer Bats and Blessthefall.[14]
[edit] Musical style and influence

Between the Buried and Me's general musical style has been stated by critics to be primarily a blend of metalcore,[15] progressive metal[15] and death metal[15][16][17], along with them incorporating many different musical styles: "One minute the band may be playing thrash metal and the next they're flowing into death metal growls and thick guitar riffs... the metal take on things can seemingly change in a flash as lead singer Tommy Rogers flashes out his vocals and utilizes the keyboards to create something that sounds more like it should be on a Smashing Pumpkins album".[18] On their covers album, The Anatomy Of, the band pays tribute to many of their diverse influences, including Metallica, King Crimson, Soundgarden, Pantera, Pink Floyd, Earth Crisis, and The Smashing Pumpkins.[19]
[edit] Band members

Current

* Tommy Giles Rogers – lead vocals, keyboards (founding member)
* Dan Briggs – bass guitar, backing vocals (2004-present)
* Blake Richardson – drums (2004-present)
* Paul Waggoner – lead guitar, backing vocals (founding member)
* Dustie Waring – rhythm guitar (2004-present)



Former

* Wil Goodyear – drums, clean vocals (2000-2003)
* Nicholas Shawn Fletcher – guitar (2000-2003)
* Jason Schofield King – bass (2000-2003)
* Mark Edward Castillo – drums (2003)
* Kevin Falk – bass (2004)
* Shane Blay – guitar (2004)
* Jason Roe – drums (2004)

[edit] Discography
Main article: Between the Buried and Me discography

Studio albums

* Between the Buried and Me (2002, Lifeforce)
* The Silent Circus (2003, Victory)
* Alaska (2005, Victory)
* The Anatomy Of (2006, Victory)
* Colors (2007, Victory)
* The Great Misdirect (2009, Victory)

[edit] Other projects

* Tommy Giles Rogers has an electronica side project named Giles. A music video for the song "Slumber Party" is featured on the DVD that is included on the re-release for Between the Buried and Me's second album The Silent Circus.
* Dustie Waring and Blake Richardson are members of the deathcore band Glass Casket.
* Tommy Rogers and Jacob Troth run a clothing line named Jacob Rogers.
* Dan Briggs and members of Fear Before and Abigail Williams are members of an experimental supergroup named Orbs.
* Tommy Rogers can be heard on August Burns Red's 2009 Album Constellations, singing on the song Indonesia.[20]

[edit] References

1. ^ Official site
2. ^ "Between The Buried & Me - "Colors" Our World". Band Rescue. 2007-10-20. http://www.bandrescue.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=113&Itemid=1.
3. ^ http://www.411mania.com/music/columns/92440/What-The-Hell-Happened-To...12.15.08:-Between-The-Buried-And-Me---The-Silent-Circus.htm
4. ^ "Between the Buried and Me quote". 2007-06-13. http://betweentheburiedandme.com/alaska/.
5. ^ http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=26849
6. ^ "Track on the Rock Band website". RockBand. Harmonix Music, Inc.. http://www.rockband.com/songs/prequeltothesequel. Retrieved 2010-8-5.
7. ^ Briggs, Dan; Between the Buried and Me (2008-12-13). "week 1". BTBAM WRITING SESSION: WINTER '08-'09. Winston-Salem, North Carolina: Blogger. http://btbamofficial.blogspot.com/. "Some adjectives thrown around while writing it were "noisy Coalesce breakdown", "3/4 Mastodon groove", "9/8 Mars Volta", "Queen chromatic build up", "Megadeth chorus", and a whole lot more."
8. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LK9p7AaqhY
9. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIwLbMRi3nU&feature=player_embedded
10. ^ "Tour report on Live Metal Net". LiveMetalNet. http://www.live-metal.net/concertreports_ozzfest2006.html. Retrieved 2010-10-03.
11. ^ "Tour info on SMN News". SMN News. http://www.smnnews.com/2006/07/25/radio-rebellion-tour-2006-feat-norma-jean-between-the-buried-and-me-fbtmof-misery-signals-nd-more. Retrieved 2010-10-03.
12. ^ "Tour dates on Blabbermouth". Blabbermouth. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=122289. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
13. ^ Freeman, Phil (2009-10-28). "Article announcing early 2010 tour dates". MSN Superfans. MSN. http://music.msn.com/superfans/heavy-metal/blog/between-the-buried-and-me-announce-2010-tour. "Progressive metal band Between The Buried And Me, whose latest album, The Great Misdirect, hit stores yesterday, will be launching another one of those tours where the openers kick the headliner's ass night after night in early 2010."
14. ^ "Cool Tour 2010 lineup". Cool Tour. http://www.cooltour10.com/lineup.html. Retrieved 2010-5-8.
15. ^ a b c Sharpe-Young, Garry. "Between the Buried and Me". MusicMight. http://www.musicmight.com/artist/united+states/north+carolina/raleigh/between+the+buried+and+me. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
16. ^ Morris, Kurt. "The Silent Circus review". Allmusic. Rovi Company. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:avfixqqaldje~T1. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
17. ^ Donnelly, Dave. "Colors review". Allmusic. Rovi Company. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wifuxzthldke~T1. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
18. ^ "Review of The Silent Circus". Allmusic. Rovi Company. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:avfixqqaldje. Retrieved 2007-5-21.
19. ^ "Between the Buried and Me Biography". Allmusic. Rovi Company. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dpfpxq80ldde~T1. Retrieved 2007-5-21.
20. ^ de Sylvia, Dave (2009-7-9). "Constellations review". Sputnikmusic. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/31316/August-Burns-Red-Constellations/. "Between The Buried And Me vocalist Tommy Rogers provides a bridge vocal to 'Indonesia' that is eerily reminiscent of Dirt-era Layne Staley, and it exemplifies neatly just where August Burns Red are at right now..."

[edit] External links

* Official website
* Official Victory Records profile

[hide]
v • d • e
Between the Buried and Me