Fatal Portrait

Fatal Portrait is the debut album by Danish heavy metal band King Diamond. It was produced by Rune Hoyer and released in 1986 via Roadrunner Records. It is the only King Diamond album to date in which guitarist Andy LaRocque does not receive writing credits. Along with The Spider's Lullabye, it is one of the band's only albums which is not a whole concept album.

Fatal Portrait
Studio album by King Diamond
Released	February 17, 1986
Recorded	July–August 1985
Studio	Sound Track Studio, Copenhagen, Denmark
Genre	Heavy metal
Length	41:41
Label	Roadrunner
Producer	King Diamond, Rune Höyer, Michael Denner
King Diamond chronology
Fatal Portrait (1986) Abigail (1987)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	8/10[2]

Fatal Portrait has sold over 100,000 copies in North America alone. The title of the album comes from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Wilde describes the painting as "the fatal portrait" several times throughout the novel.

Plot

Five songs on this album (first four and "Haunted") form a short story. Narrator sees a face in "every candle that [he] burns". This face speaks one word to him: "Jonah". So he finds an old book, speaks a rhyme and frees the spirit from the candle. It's the spirit of a little girl named Molly, who tells him her story, that happened seven years before. Mrs. Jane kept her 4-year-old daughter Molly in the attic until she (Molly) died. Before, Mrs. Jane painted Molly's portrait and put it above the fireplace, so that Molly would become immortal; however, Molly made the portrait speak to her mother, so that Jane would know about Molly's pain. Mrs. Jane then speaks a rhyme and burns the portrait. A free spirit of Molly returns to haunt her until she goes insane.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by King Diamond; all music is composed by King Diamond except where noted.

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Candle"	6:38
2.	"The Jonah"	5:15
3.	"The Portrait"	5:06
4.	"Dressed in White"	3:09

Side two

No.	Title	Music	Length
5.	"Charon"	Diamond, Michael Denner	4:14
6.	"Lurking in the Dark"		3:33
7.	"Halloween"	Diamond, Denner	4:12
8.	"Voices from the Past" (instrumental)		1:29
9.	"Haunted"	Diamond, Denner	3:54

Remastered edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Music	Length
10.	"No Presents for Christmas"	Diamond, Denner	4:20
11.	"The Lake"		4:11

Personnel

Band members

• King Diamond - lead and backing vocals, all guitars on "Voices from the Past", producer
• Andy LaRocque - lead guitars
• Michael Denner - lead guitars, assistant producer
• Timi Hansen - bass
• Mikkey Dee - drums

Production

• Rune Höyer - producer
• Roberto Falcao - engineer

References

1. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "King Diamond - Fatal Portrait review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2016-11-23.
2. Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 184. ISBN 978-1894959315.