Back in 2002, King Diamond boasted on his website that his new album, The Puppet Master, would be out sometime in October 2003 and he made it quite apparent that he is not holding anything back in this new story filled with terror and sorrow. KingThe rules of censorship are being thrown out the window.", claimed his evilness, "This is going to be the rawest story/album we have ever done; if you are into horror, you're definitely going to get it with this album!" furthermore assured his fanatical fan base that this album is going to make the hairs stand up on the back of listener's neck. "

Ever since he burst onto the metal scene in the early 80's as the lead singer to the Danish satanic metal band Mercyful Fate and throughout his extensive solo career, King Diamond (the late Kim Bendix Peterson) has been shocking audiences and delighting fans alike with concept albums filled with his gruesome tales of horror and macabre.

Ever iconoclastic and firmly ensconced in macabre metal, the King rarely deviates from his secure secret formula of terror and often times goes so far as to engineer and master his albums, most certainly to ensure their evil integrity.  The problem with Diamond is that he "blew his wad" back in year one and, in this writer's humble opinion, totally misrepresented The Puppet Master, an album I firmly believe is the pinnacle and possibly a monumental crossroad in his illustrious career.   After writing and singing Mercyful Fate songs like Evil, Satan's Fall, Desecration of Souls and ever-heterodoxical The Oath, there is nothing more terrifying or blasphemous that King Diamond can either do or say.  Having touched upon and even dedicated complete albums to: insanity, human sacrifice, the occult/magic/the supernatural, torture, abuse, voodoo, bestiality, murder, adultery and even pedophilia, one needs to remind Mr. Peterson that we only have so many deadly sins and he's pretty much covered them all twice.  Not that he ever actually engages in these acts as whenever he feels his topics are too extreme, he writes the album's disclaimer personally disdaining anyone who would even consider acting on the topics discussed in said album.  Albeit paradoxical, it seems as if the King himself feels morally responsible for possibly misguiding his fan base. 

While his topics seem to be horrific in nature, his music is delightfully consistent, ever intriguing and heavily influenced by great artists like Deep Purple, Alice Cooper and the often-overlooked Uriah Heep.  Though the King's multi-octave range has waned in recent years, his song writing hasn't and though he doesn't deviate from his formula often, he does periodically experiment with new ideas, recording techniques, sounds and nuances.

It seems like Diamond tends to toggle between putting out a superb album and an acceptable album as his last masterpiece was 1998's VoodooHouse Of God and the completely unnecessary 2002 sequel to 1987's Abigail, the uniquely titled Abigail II: The Revenge.  One would tend to agree that release of The Puppet Master was much needed. before boring us into the new millennium with 2000's

From its very first second to its last strains, the listener is assaulted with inspired playing, fantastic songwriting and aural perfection.  Billed as horrific, King instead presents his audience with sheer beauty as he experiments with several firsts on this his 11^th studio album.

One of his firsts is that in the midst of all this horror, King includes the topic of love and surprisingly, it is believable and wonderful.  Many a time I find his macabre topics and lyrics to be laughable at best and have often wondered if Diamond writes these stories with tongue firmly planted in cheek.  As a result, I was never prepared for the sincerity at which the King emotes his protagonist's love for his sweetheart Victoria.

The band must have also sensed Diamond's newfound faith and heartily embraced it with their performance on the album.  Drummer Matt Thompson's playing is nothing less than awe inspiring as he easily changes genres from the fastest raging metal to the slowest power ballad and all points in between.  His solid grooves add texture and foundation to the songs.  Even guitarists Andy LaRoque (the King's only mainstay in his ever changing line-up) and Mike Wead suspend their neo-classical leads from time to time to belt out sustaining, soulful solos that would make David Gilmour proud.

Interestingly enough, The Puppet Master marks the second time King Diamond has touched upon the topic of Christmas, but unlike it's brutal annihilation in 1985's No Presents For Christmas, Diamond reveres it by opening the aptly titled Christmas with verse from the Little Drummer Boy, beautifully sung by the Budapest born Miss Zita.  Further research points to the fact that the King's favorite meal is a traditional Danish Christmas dinner and I wonder if he does indeed prefer seeing a present or two with his name on it under the old jule træ.

For all of The Puppet Master's greatness, the bonus DVD featuring his lordship personally telling his morbid tale is a pure let down.  Totally packaged with a horra-terror intro, replete with thunderclaps and candles, Diamond's performance is hilarious and further drives home the point that maybe he fully doesn't buy into his own persona.  King Diamond and Metal Blade would have done far better to fill the DVD with either bootleg concerts, past music videos or anything that would make the viewer desire to watch the DVD more than half-way through.

Mind you, I am not suggesting that King Diamond should totally suspend writing his horror/occult themed albums, but he should stop trying to top himself in this genre and not be afraid to stray from the small area he fenced himself into as he is the millennium Mozart and The Puppet Master is nothing less than contemporary opera.  He is truly a unique performer, a musical genius and is revered worldwide by a devout fan base, which even contains fellow musicians.  But the time has come for his highness to put away his plastic spiders and Chucky dolls and broaden his horizons by collaborating with other artists.  Quite frankly, with a little spit, polish and better lyrics, The Puppet Master could easily have a theatrical run by a top notch touring company which would rival Phantom Of The Opera, Starlight Express, Cats or any one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's many over-hyped banalities.

Until then, I will continue to relish listening to The Puppet Master and dreaming of what may or may not come.  If you are to buy any album from King's arsenal, let it be The Puppet Master and then don't be afraid to work your way back.

Rabbit Don't Come Easy is billed as Helloween's triumphant return to their old style, but I must say that I'm a wee bit puzzled by that statement.  They might have returned to touring North America for the first time since 1989, but let me assure you my friends, Helloween never left.

Though the band has been through various line-up changes throughout the years, core members Markus Großkopf and Michael Weikath remain firmly ensconced in the band they formed almost 20 years ago with Gamma Ray's Kai Hanson and the late Ingo Schwichtenberg.

Rabbit Don't Come Easy is Helloween's 15^th (depending how you count, I usually omit Best Of's) album since the band first appeared on the radar in 1985 with their eponymous EP and tore into the metal scene with a vengeance with albums Walls Of Jericho and Keeper Of The Seven Key's Parts 1 and 2.  It was during the Keeper Of The Seven Keys era when the band was riding high on the metal scene and had introduced Michael Kiske, an 18-year-old vocalist with more range and power than even Iron Maiden's Bruce "The Air Raid Siren" Dickinson.  Helloween toured the US and elsewhere and at the time seemed unstoppable.

After having replaced Hansen with guitarist Roland Grapow and having received much criticism for their forays into humor, pop and prog in the early 90's with albums like Pink Bubbles Go Ape and Chameleon, the Teutonic Metal Meisters seemed to fall in disfavor with the US audiences and, much to my chagrin, were pretty much relegated to touring Europe and South America.

Following the suicide death of original drummer Ingo SchwichtenbergMichael Kiske shortly thereafter, Helloween regrouped and returned to their heavy roots with new force, this time adding singer Andreas (Andi) Deris and original Gamma RayUli Kusch.  Albums Master Of The Rings and The Time Of The Oath melded pop sensibilities with pounding rhythms and super speed.  Still feeling the need to push pop aside and rebuild their metal following, Helloween added even more octane to the gas tank, which resulted in making albums Better Than Raw and The Dark Ride their heaviest and darkest to date. and the loss of defining vocalist drummer

If anything, Rabbit Don't Come Easy is Helloween's return to yet another line-up change and yet another fantastic studio album.  Whether heavy, slow, pop or progressive, Helloween has consistently released quality albums filled with monster playing and killer songwriting.  This time, however, rather than dedicating a full album to one musical exploration, Rabbit Don't Come Easy melds the best of all worlds.

The album begins with the band's trademark brief orchestral fanfare before launching into the thunderous Just A Little Sign augmented by moonlighting Motorhead drummer Mikkey Dee who first appeared on King Diamond's 1986 opus Fatal Portrait.  The Scandinavian Skin Basher reportedly had only three days to learn, write and record his parts for the album, but it sounds like he had been playing with Helloween since day one.  Though new drummer, Stefan Schwarztmann, plays on a couple of tracks, I would strongly suggest that Mikkey Dee is contracted to record on subsequent Helloween studio releases as, in this writer's humble opinion, Dee is the premier metal drummer and I will deny anyone who refutes this statement without proper documented proof.  For all of Schwarztmann's talent, unfortunately, he's no Mikkey Dee.

New guitarist Sascha Gerstner's writing makes an appearance on the next track Open Your Life, a wonderful piece that jumps between a prog intro, superb breakdowns, a fantastic pre-chorus and a thrashing power chorus and defines the best of everything Helloween has done in the past two decades.

One of my personal favorites is the humble Never Be A Star, a song whose premise is that even though the band will never be superstars, they are very content with their position in the rock and roll stratosphere.  One of the track's highlights is Markus Großkopf's middle section bass groove, which is probably one of his best since Chameleon's Revolution Now and the band's b-side version of Grand Funk Railroad's Closer To Home.  Throughout the years Großkopf's fantastic playing is always hidden beneath a wall of drums and guitars, so it's nice to hear him shine on occasions like this.  Though he is frequently compared to Iron Maiden's Steve Harris (my idol), Großkopf is his own man and has way better time and groove.

Another outstanding contribution by newcomer Gerstner is Sun 4 The World, featuring a rich middle-eastern sitar intro before launching the band into a power groove and double kick chorus.  Again, another great song deeply rooted in metal, but still chock full of various styles and influences.  I was initially reluctant to another line-up change, but having now listened to the album and seen the band live, I feel Gerstner's contribution to Rabbit Don't Come Easy and the band in general is a much needed and welcomed shot in the arm.

The rest of the album is delightfully consistent and my only criticism would be that the Japanese version contains a cover of Accept's Fast As A Shark, a song considered by many to be the first thrash metal song, and the US release does not.

So, if rabbits don't come easy, then why are there so many of them?  Yes, Helloween is triumphant, yes they have returned and yes, against all odds, they've pulled yet another magic rabbit out of their hat.  For those of you that never heard of them or lost track along the way, then let me strongly suggest that Rabbit Don't Come Easy will either win you back or start you on the journey of discovering one of metal's most definitive and influential groups.