King Diamond - Give Me Your Soul...Please

General Information

Original Author: The Uncreator

Artist: King Diamond

Album: Give Me Your Soul...Please

Genre: Heavy Metal

Label: Metal Blade

Tracklist

1. The Dead
2. Neverending Hill
3. Is Anybody There?
4. Black Of Night
5. Mirror Mirror
6. The Cellar
7. Pictures In Red
8. Give Me Your Soul
9. The Floating Head
10. Cold As Iced
11. Shapes Of Black
12. The Girl In The Bloody Dress
13. Moving On

Characters

Me And My Black Cat Magic ("Me" refers to King Diamond)
The Beautiful House On Neverending Hill
The Little Girl In The Bloody Dress And Her Dead Brother
The Dark
The Floating Head Woman
Shapes Of Black...
...And YOU.

Sound

10 Excellent sound, comparable to earlier stuff like "Abigail" if you turned up the gain a bit on the amps, the sound is strong, it works its way methodically through each song, riff after riff, solo after solo.

Guitars

10 Anyone who knows Previous King Diamons albums, knows that his main Axeman, Andy LaRocque, can put out some serious riffs. and his fellow Axeman in arms, Mike Wead, is just the same. The play some very cool riffs on this album, and they are some of KD's best since "Abigail" and "Them". Solo wise, i think this is there best effort, the solos by Andy are as usuall.....AWESOME, he has a way with playing some licks in songs that form the song "Theme" and these Themes are some crazy stuff, not technically, there no super fast, just creative, and simple often. Mikes soloing is bringing some new stuff everyday to KD's music, his solos remind of Adrian Smith crossed with Dave Mustaine. There very good by any and all standards, and they always fit the song perfect. Great guitarmanship from both Axeman.

Bass

6 It does what its needed, creates a groove or a rhythm for the foundation of every song, and its solid, no weakpoints, but, it's nothing to get hyped up about.

Drum

7.5 Solid drums, keep the rhythm moving and your headbangin, and there are some key points on the album where the drums actually caught my attention more than the guitars. They stay solid throughout the album, producing a great sound that will make your neck ache (from headbangin of course )

Vocals

10 Come on people its King Diamond!!! his vocals are some of the coolest ever, his low rumbling demonic voice creates an extremely haunting atmosphere that will make you fear what could lie in the dark, and His High voice thats Sharper than a dragonblade made from diamonds and dragonsblood cuts through your mind and just shakes your soul!! But, i do realize that his high voice does make alot of people turn away from his music, so, this is not the kinda of high voice that say, Bruce Dickinson might do, maybe along the lines of Rob Halford kinda high, like in the Priest song "The Sentinel". Just know that its not for everybody, but do know i didnt quite like it at first, and now i absoulutely love it, so if doesnt seem like your thing, just give it a littel bit more time.

Lyrics

10 Creepy, Chilling, Haunting, Scary, King Diamond can really strike the notion of fear with his words, he paints a vivid picture on a canvas of darkness and terror on this album. The story is great, in short story form without ruining it its about "A Girl In A Bloody Dress" who must find a soul to take the place of her brothers who was wrongfully sent to Hell, cant say how or why, youll just have to listen and find out!!
Here are some of my favorite excerpts...

From 'Mirror Mirror':
I silently followed the sound
Little footstpes are moving down in the hall
With the candle still in my hand
I take a look at the mirror on the wall

I cannot see myself
I don't even see the hallway that im in
I see a girl in a bloody dress
Standing in the cellar down below

From 'Moving On':
"If I could only take his place...On the other other side
I can see...I can feel...The tear in his eyes
The tears that he cries
We need each other
In the darkest of night...He's all I Have"

From 'The Cellar':
"The dark is so much darker here
The candle light can't break the sensation of fear
I see a trail of blood:
Leading down into the dark where no one should go"

Overall Impression

10 I never thought i would say this, but King Diamond has put out his best album since Abigail, and i think VERY highly of Abigail, every album atfer that was great, but to me, never came close, and this new album 'Give Me Your Soul...Please' has brought back that chilling sensation of Abigail with a new story and fresh new sound. I had high expectations for this album, and The King topped them.

Editorial note: published 27 July, 2007