| Fatal Portrait | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 14 March 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 | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 8/10[2] |
Fatal Portrait is the debut album by Danish heavy metal band King Diamond. It was produced by Rune Hoyer and released on 14 March 1986 through Roadrunner Records.[3] Guitarist Andy LaRocque joined the album recording sessions at the last minute, as the band's second guitarist at the time "wasn't working out" in the studio.[4] As a result, it is the only King Diamond album which does not feature any writing credits from LaRocque. Recording a solo for "Dressed in White" functioned as his audition for joining the band.[4] Along with The Spider's Lullabye, it is one of the band's only albums which is not a whole concept album.
Fatal Portrait has sold over 100,000 copies in North America alone.[5] 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.
- ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "King Diamond - Fatal Portrait review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2016-11-23.
- ^ 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.
- ^ The King Diamond Coven (newsletter/press kit). King Diamond. 1988.
...the recordings of the Fatal Portrait album, which took place in the Sound Track Studio in Copenhagen during June, July and August 1985. The album was released worldwide on March 14th, 1986.
- ^ a b "Andy LaRocque Interview". K.K. Downing´s Steel Mill. Retrieved 2021-09-07.
- ^ "Fatal Portrait". 2020.