You like King Diamond? Of course you do. International metal collective Them also likes King Diamond. They like him quite a lot.
So yes, they’re named after King’s best album (feel free to debate me on that in the comment section), and yes, vocalist Troy Norr (credited as “KK Fossor,” and also of NYC thrash outfit Coldsteel) sounds wickedly like the man, employing a wide range of styles, from the harmonized falsettos to the gravelly mid-range. It’s an obvious homage, one the band is certainly not trying to downplay, but thankfully, it’s one done well enough that it comes off more as loving tribute than callous plagiarism.
Like almost all of King’s albums, Sweet Hollow is a macabre concept album based in classic horror tropes, replete with scant bits of dialogue to help the story along – there’s the creepy spoken-word-ish intro of “Rebirth,” and the child Miranda calling out to her father for help in “Forever Burns,” and the carnival barker taunting Fossor by name in “FestEvil.” The guitar team of Markus Johansson and Markus Ullrich do a fine job of emulating Andy LaRocque’s melodic shredding – even before Norr’s first sung vocal, the harmonized solo that opens “Forever Burns” is prime Diamond. Bassist Mike LePond (also of Symphony X) and drummer Kevin Talley (ex-Suffocation, ex-Dying Fetus, ex-Chimaira, etc.) shine as expected, with LePond’s bass getting more space and both he and Talley often providing some more intricate work than would be found on a King Diamond album itself.
Still, anything approaching King Diamond has to live and die by the vocals and the melodies, and Norr can certainly pull off both. Super-catchy hooks abound, be it the male-female call and response in “Ghost In The Graveyard,” or the Ghost-y singalong chorus in “Dead Of Night.” “Down The Road To Misery” is a flat-out ripper, with some more great guitars and another epic chorus, while “Ghost In The Graveyard” leans towards the progressive with some off-time riff work in the verses before huge falsetto-accented choruses. Admittedly, the second half ofHollow takes a slight downward turn: The carnival 6/8 swing of “FestEvil” drags on a bit long, and the “KK, you have to help me” lines are a bit stilted and silly, but it is redeemed somewhat by another shredder of a solo and harmonized leads. “The Crimson Corpse” and “Blood For Blood” are fine enough, but neither quite takes flight, although the thrashing “The Harrowing Path To Hollow” sets the album right again in for the end.
With all the hallmarks in place, the success or failure of Sweet Hollow comes down to whether or not you’re in the mood for a band that sounds exactly like another band. Me, I’m fine with it – I love King Diamond, and Them has the chops and the songwriting skill to make Sweet Hollow as fun and endearing as it is indebted to the source material. In the absence of the King for however much longer until his much-anticipated new album arrives, well, Them’s good enough for me.
Original, no? Entertaining, absolutely.
