Amid his current North American headlining tour with Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats and Idle Hands, occult-metal pioneer King Diamond has dropped a twisted new single, "Masquerade of Madness." The song — which has all the piercing falsetto and Eighties-style guitar heroics your heart could desire — will appear on the great Dane's first studio album in 12 years, The Institute, due in 2020 via Metal Blade Records.
Earlier this year, King Diamond told us that the album would tell it's a multi-layered story related, at least in part, to the life-saving triple bypass surgery he had in late 2010. "My worst nightmare ever is in it," he said. "That was when I woke up after the big heart surgery. I was on a breathing machine, and I freaked out because it felt like I was choking to death. I tried to pull the tube out of my mouth, and when Livia saw that she ran for help immediately. They came in and I thought, 'Oh, finally. They can help me not die.' But instead they grabbed my arms and legs and tied me down to the hospital bed. I couldn't communicate at all. I was living Metallica's 'One.'" Listen above and see the King's upcoming itinerary below.
King Diamond North American tour dates:
Nov. 8 – Worcester, MA – The Palladium
Nov. 10 – Philadelphia, PA – The Tower Theater
Nov. 11 – Baltimore, MD – The Lyric
Nov. 12 – Montreal, QC – M-Telus
Nov. 14 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore
Nov. 15 – Cleveland, OH – The Agora Theatre
Nov. 16 – Louisville, KY – The Palace Theatre
Nov. 18 – Chicago, IL – The Riviera
Nov. 19 – Minneapolis, MN – Palace Theater
Nov. 22 – Denver, CO – The Fillmore
Nov. 23 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
Nov. 25 – Seattle, WA – The Paramount
Nov. 26 – Portland, OR – The Schnitzer
Nov. 27 – Vancouver, BC – The Queen Elizabeth
Nov. 29 – San Francisco, CA – The Warfield
Dec. 1 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
Dec. 2 – San Diego, CA – Magnolia
Dec. 3 – Anaheim, CA – The Grove of Anaheim
Dec. 4 – Phoenix, AZ – Comerica
