SHOW REVIEW AND LIVE PICS: KING DIAMOND AND EXODUS

There are few if any live acts today that can hold a candle to the sublime musicianship, over the top theatrical antics and sheer stage power that King Diamond has been bringing to each and every one of his live shows for going on over 30 years now.
Kim Bendix Petersen, a.k.a King Diamond himself, once again proved these constants to still be intact while also bringing his evil tricks and dark metal treats to the Tabernacle theater in Atlanta, Georgia earlier this month to the delight of well over 2,000 rabid fans.
King Diamond tested the waters for the larger scale tour the band is currently undertaking in 2015 with them running through a few headlining gigs in 2014 followed by a stint playing only in front of Slayer on the now defunct Rockstar Mayhem tour this past summer.

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What those recent shows proved in spades was the fact that there was still a robust audience eager to continue to engage in evil sing-a-longs with the master of the falsetto and most fans, from the moment the walked through the Tabernacle’s doors, couldn’t wait to trade dark metal lyric for lyric blows with the Danish King.
Keeping up with the recent live performance trend many bands seem to be employing these days, performing an album in its entirety, King Diamond has chosen to recreate the band’s sophomore 1987 release, Abigail for this touring cycle.
Putting a spin on the singular record performance strategy, King Diamond first played a few classics off of other LPs such as the always popular “Welcome Home”, “Sleepless Nights” and “Halloween” as well as two Mercyful Fate covers including blistering renditions of “Evil” and “Melissa” before following up with a track-by-track recreation of Abigail.
The band which is comprised of long time King Diamond writing partner and guitarist Andy LaRoque (guitars), Mike Wead (guitars), Matt Thompson (drums) and most recent addition Pontus Egberg (bass), spent the last 45 minutes of the evening masterfully ripping through Abigail favorites such as “The Family Ghost, the seldom played live “The 7th Day of July 1977”, “Omens” and of course the title track to the record itself, “Abigail”.
Thrash metal heroes Exodus opened the night’s festivities reunited again with classic era vocalist Steve Souza but currently without the services of lead guitar player Gary Holt, as Holt is currently touring Europe with Big Four metal godfathers Slayer.
Exodus, who were more than well received by the crowd, cranked out a brief but bludgeoning eight song set that that included the one, two double punch set closers of “The Toxic Waltz” and “Strike of the Beast”.
Considering the near capacity attendance on a Monday night in a southern town more known for the Olympics and Ted Turner than its metal scene, King Diamond and Exodus both proved that neither band is anywhere close to bringing down the curtain on their brilliant and storied metal careers and that has to be both dark and brutal music to the ears of many a fan.