King Diamond : "Spider Lilly'

 I rarely review singles, as I prefer hearing songs in the context of the album. However, I think most people know King Diamond is one of my favorite metal artists, who I am been listening to since even before 'Fatal Portrait" was released. I am also not going to just wait around for new music even when being baited by the fact that after an 18-year wait "Saint Lucifer's Hospital 1920" is supposed to be released this year.  Considering the last single "Masquerade of Madness" was supposed to have appeared on the album "The Institute" which had been due for a 2019 release that was pushed back to 2022, then re-conceptualized entirely until King said he was making a trilogy and not a two-part album.  I am not going to weigh "Spider Lilly" against "Give Me Your Soul Please" since 18 years have passed and King Diamond is now 68.

To give some context here, I went back to listen to "Masquerade of Madness" which was recorded in 2019, we can presume five years before the most recent release, as they do not sound like they were in the same session at all, much different mix and guitar placement. After listening to both songs several times, the conclusion I have drawn is that from a songwriting perspective "Spider Lilly" is a more nuanced song, with a great range of dynamics. The catch here is that while it sounds more like  "Puppet Master" era Diamond and more middle-of-the-road in terms of songwriting, his voice sounds better on "Masquerade of Madness". His high notes have a more piercing quality to them, not unlike what he did back on albums like "Them" and "Conspiracy". 

In the span of five years if we are seeing a decline in vocal power that I am hearing, here, and perhaps this was just a stylistic choice, I saw him live in 2019 and he knocked it out of the park which was when the first song was recorded. However, I did check out footage of the Nov 29th show and he hit the notes in "Sleepless Nights" and he hit all the notes. So it was a stylistic choice on his part, why write something that is going to be harder to sing in three years, I think releasing three more albums is a little optimistic on his part that the world is not going to end after this year, much less make it til when he is 71, which I prefer as I want to side with his legacy preserved and no live to see him struggling out there like Rob Halford is at 71. I will reserve final judgment for when I hear this one in the context of a full album. 

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