King Diamond gives his opinion on Ghost

The influential Danish singer Kim Bendix Petersen, known as King Diamond and for his work with Mercyful Fate, gave his opinion in an interview with Metal Hammer on the Swedish group Ghost, that also mixes Rock music with theatrical look and performances.

In the same conversation the musician said that he doesn’t see any trace of his work on Ghost and said that people who says the Swedish band copied Mercyful Fate are wrong.

King Diamond gives his opinion on Ghost:

“Some people have compared the two bands, but I never thought that. I very much saw them as a Blue Oyster Cult style band. I’m sure they have a little influence from us, and that’s a huge honour to hear, but they have their own style. I never felt that they were copying us. We have all these guitar solos, and they barely use any guitar solos on those first couple of albums.”

“They also have a show which is completely different to ours. You see someone saying ‘Oh they got that from King Diamond and Mercyful Fate!’ but I don’t think that is true. It’s not like we don’t have any humour in our shows, but it’s very grotesque and twisted. With them I see it as a lot more tongue-in-cheek. Ours is horror show, they have jokes going back and forth during the show.”

“I’m not so much into the pop side of what they do, but they’ve certainly done some very heavy songs too. They do it very well, they’re amazing songwriters,” King Diamond said.

Diamond

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark back in 1956, King Diamond is known for his far-reaching falsetto screams and wide-ranging singing voice. The lead vocalist and main lyricist of Mercyful Fate in all their reunions, the musician released his first solo album “Fatal Portrait” in 1986.

The famous American Thrash Metal bands Metallica and Slayer already named King Diamond as an influence. Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, who was also born in Denmark is a big fan of Mercyful Fate and Diamond.