The Puppet Master
The Puppet Master is King Diamond's eleventh studio album, released in October 2003 through Massacre Records. It follows Abigail II: The Revenge from 2002 and comes four years before Give Me Your Soul… Please, so it sits late in the Danish band's run of story-driven heavy metal records.
As ever with King Diamond, the songs serve a tale. This one follows a young couple who go to see a puppet show in Budapest in the 1700s, only to be turned into undead puppets by the Puppet Master and his wife. If you like your metal with a proper horror narrative running through it, that's the draw here. A limited edition also came with a DVD, on which King Diamond himself tells the story of the Puppet Master, a nice extra for anyone who wants the tale straight from its author.
The Puppet Master: tracklist and credits
12 tracks · 55:48Tracklist
- 1MidnightKing Diamond1:55
- 2The Puppet MasterKing Diamond4:41
- 3MagicAndy LaRocque and King Diamond4:58
- 4EmerenciaKing Diamond5:20
- 5Blue EyesKing Diamond4:24
- 6The RitualAndy LaRocque and King Diamond5:03
- 7No More MeKing Diamond and Matt Thompson3:16
- 8Blood to WalkKing Diamond5:32
- 9DarknessAndy LaRocque and King Diamond4:37
- 10So SadKing Diamond4:39
- 11ChristmasKing Diamond5:19
- 12Living DeadKing Diamond and Andy LaRocque6:04
- Produced by
- King Diamond
- Labels
- Massacre Records, Massacre
- Length
- 55:48
Line-up
- Hal Patino · bass · guest
- Mike Wead · guitar family · guest
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
Released the same week
Also released on 21 October
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How we know the release date wikipedia 2003-10-21 vs 2003-10-20 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 20 October 2003 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 21 October 2003 | |
| Wikidata | 2003 | |
| US release | 21 October 2003 | earliest US date |
3 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | DE | Massacre Records | 4028466104007 | other |
| 20 October 2003 | DE | Massacre Records | 4028466114006 | original |
| 21 October 2003 | US | Metal Blade Records | 039841444520 | other |
Cover art sources
deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1200×1200 | upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25) |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 505×500 | upscaled |