Voodoo (King Diamond album)
Encyclopedia
Voodoo is a concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...

 by King Diamond
King Diamond (band)
King Diamond is the heavy metal band that King Diamond formed after the split up of his heavy metal band Mercyful Fate, and the departure of Hank Shermann. He was joined by most members of the then defunct Mercyful Fate. The Satanic focus was replaced by a focus on horror stories...

. The album was released in 1998. The album cover is drawn by Kristian Wåhlin
Kristian Wåhlin
Kristian Wåhlin is a Swedish musician, graphic designer, and album cover artist for many bands in the extreme metal scene worldwide. He is often credited under his pseudonym, Necrolord....

.
The album was remastered by Andy LaRocque and was re-released in 2009.

Plot

Voodoo takes place in the year 1932 and deals with the affairs of the Lafayettes, a family consisting of Sarah (who is pregnant), David, and Grandpa. They move to an old colonial house on the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

, just north of Baton Rouge, which also happens to have been built next to a voodoo
Louisiana Voodoo
Louisiana Voodoo, also known as New Orleans Voodoo, describes a set of underground religious practices which originated from the traditions of the African diaspora. It is a cultural form of the Afro-American religions which developed within the French, Spanish, and Creole speaking African American...

 graveyard.

Unknown to the Lafayettes, the colonial house's servant, Salem, is involved in voodoo. Salem partakes in voodoo rituals at the graveyard, along with Doctor le Croix
Baron La Croix
In Vodou, Baron La Croix , also spelled Lakwa, is one of the Guédé, a Loa of the dead and sexuality, along with Baron Samedi and Baron Cimetière. He is the ultimate suave and sophisticated spirit of Death - quite cultured and debonair. He has an existential philosophy about death, finding death's...

, a voodoo sorcerer, Madame Sarita, and Lula Chevalier, a girl who is never seen.

The Lafayettes hear the voodoo drums from the ceremonies in the graveyard. They call a secret meeting with Salem to discuss what should be done. The Lafayettes decide to destroy the voodoo burial ground. Salem does not want this to happen, so he sneaks out at midnight to talk to Doctor le Croix. Le Croix gives Salem money to buy some goofer dust
Goofer dust
Goofer dust is a traditional practice of the African American tradition of hoodoo from the South Eastern Region of the United States of America....

, and tells him that the Lafayettes must all die.

Salem puts a snake in David's room, mixes haunted graveyard dirt in Grandpa's food, and, after talking to the dead Baron Samedi, pours goofer dust on Sarah while she sleeps. David and Grandpa become very ill, and Sarah becomes possessed with a voodoo spirit
Loa
The Loa are the spirits of the voodoo religion practiced in Louisiana, Haiti, Benin, and other parts of the world. They are also referred to as Mystères and the Invisibles, in which are intermediaries between Bondye —the Creator, who is distant from the world—and humanity...

.

Grandpa manages to call Father Malone, an exorcist
Exorcist
In some religions an exorcist is a person who is believed to be able to cast out the devil or other demons. A priest, a nun, a monk, a healer, a shaman or other specially prepared or instructed person can be an exorcist...

. Father Malone travels to the colonial house to rid Sarah of her possessor. He fails, and is rendered unconscious from exhaustion. While he is unconscious, Lula brings the heavy, nail-riddled ceremonial cross of Baron Samedi
Baron Samedi
Baron Samedi is one of the Loa of Haitian Voodoo. Samedi is a Loa of the dead, along with Baron's numerous other incarnations Baron Cimetière, Baron La Croix, and Baron Kriminel. He is the head of the Guédé family of Loa, or an aspect of them, or possibly their spiritual father...

 to the possessed Sarah. Sarah attacks Malone with the cross, almost killing him. Grandpa comes in and tells Sarah to stop, and she does, which saves Father Malone's life. Grandpa calls the police and ambulance, which arrive two hours later.

The story concludes with Salem speaking about the aftermath of the situation, which also reveals that he escaped the events of the mansion. He explains that the Lafayettes abandoned the old colonial house after leaving the hospital. Sarah's child was born and it was speaking "in the strangest tongue...backwards. Some expert had uttered the word...'Voodoo'..."

"Voodoo" is one of the best-selling King Diamond's albums. It peaked at #27 in the Finnish Charts remaining four weeks in the Top 40 and it peaked at #55 in the Swedish Charts, but remaining for just one week.

Track listing

  • There is a hidden track 1:50 after "Aftermath" on the European release which is basically "Unclean Spirits" played backwards.

Credits

  • King Diamond
    King Diamond
    Kim Bendix Petersen , better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Grammy Award nominated Danish heavy metal musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his extensive vocal range, in particular his usage of falsetto. He is the lead vocalist for both Mercyful Fate and the eponymous King Diamond...

     - vocals, keyboards, harpsichord, organ
  • Andy LaRocque
    Andy LaRocque
    Andy LaRocque is best known as a guitarist, songwriter, and occasional synth player for the band King Diamond.-Biography:...

     - electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards
  • Herb Simonsen - electric guitars
  • Chris Estes
    Chris Estes
    Christopher Douglas Estes is a former King Diamond bass player . Originally from Dodge City, Kansas, Chris moved to Denton Texas in 1991 to attend the University of North Texas as a Jazz Studies major. During his time at UNT he met Darrin Anthony Stull and joined his unsigned Dallas band Mindstorm...

     - bass, acoustic guitars, keyboards
  • John Luke Hébert - drums, percussion
  • Dimebag Darrell
    Dimebag Darrell
    Darrell Lance Abbott , also known as Diamond Darrell and Dimebag Darrell, was an American guitarist. He was best known as a founding member of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan. Abbott also contributed to the album Rebel Meets Rebel, a collaboration between Pantera and David Allan Coe...

    - guitar solo on "Voodoo"
  • The Voodoo Story
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