Fatal Portrait
Fatal Portrait is the debut album from the Danish heavy metal band King Diamond, released in March 1986 on Roadrunner Records with Rune Hoyer producing. The title comes from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, where the painting is repeatedly called "the fatal portrait". It opens the run of studio albums that continues with Abigail in 1987.
The record has a curious backstory. Guitarist Andy LaRocque arrived at the last minute, because the band's second guitarist wasn't working out in the studio, and his solo on "Dressed in White" doubled as his audition. It is the only King Diamond album without a writing credit for him. Unlike most of the band's catalogue, it isn't a full concept album, a distinction it shares only with The Spider's Lullabye. It has sold over 100,000 copies in North America alone.
Fatal Portrait: tracklist and credits
10 tracks · 41:55Tracklist
- 1The CandleKing Diamond6:40
- 2The JonahKing Diamond5:16
- 3The PortraitKing Diamond5:08
- 4Dressed in WhiteKing Diamond3:08
- 5CharonMichael Denner and King Diamond4:16
- 6Lurking in the DarkKing Diamond3:35
- 7HalloweenMichael Denner and King Diamond4:13
- 8Voices From the PastKing Diamond1:31
- 9HauntedMichael Denner and King Diamond3:54
- 10The LakeKing Diamond4:13
- Produced by
- King Diamond, Rune Höyer, Michael Denner
- Recorded at
- Sound Track Studio, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Recorded
- July–August 1985
- Labels
- Roadrunner Records, Roadrunner
- Length
- 41:55
Line-up
- Michael Denner · guitar family · guest
- Timi Hansen · bass · guest
Singles
- “No Presents for Christmas” · 1985
- “Halloween” · 1986
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
Released the same week
Also released on 14 March
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 1986-03-14 vs 1986-02-17 (wikidata)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 1986 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 14 March 1986 | |
| Wikidata | 17 February 1986 | |
| US release | 1986 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 1986 | earliest UK or European date |
10 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XE | Roadrunner Records | other | |
| — | XW | — | other | |
| 1986 | XE | Roadrunner Records | original | |
| 1986 | US | Roadrunner Records | 016861972127 | original |
| 1986 | XE | Roadrunner Records | original | |
| 21 October 1990 | JP | Far East Metal Syndicate | 4988015034370 | other |
| 1997 | XE | Roadrunner Records | 016861878924 | remaster |
| 2003 | US | Roadrunner Records | 016861835620 | other |
| 18 May 2018 | US | Metal Blade Records | 039842505510 | other |
| 24 April 2020 | XE | Metal Blade Records | 039841567526 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · cropped: cropped from 1852x1880 to 1852x1852
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 1852×1880 | cropped: cropped from 1852x1880 to 1852x1852 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |