''Conspiracy'' is the fourth studio album by Danish heavy metal band

King Diamond Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto ...

, and the second part of a story that began on the album '' Them''. ''Conspiracy'' was released in 1989 and is the last album to feature drummer

Mikkey Dee Micael Kiriakos Delaoglou (born 31 October 1963), known professionally as Mikkey Dee, is a Swedish musician, best known as the last drummer for British heavy metal band Motörhead from 1992 until its dissolution in 2015. Dee also played temporari ...

who left the group but recorded the album as a session member. The song "Cremation" appears in the 2009 video game ''

Brütal Legend ''Brütal Legend'' is an action-adventure video game with real-time strategy game elements created by Double Fine and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released during October 2009 in North America, ...

''.

Plot

After the events of '' Them'', an adult King returns to the House of Amon to reclaim his rightful place as heir to the house. ("At The Graves") He makes a deal with "Them", the unseen demonic antagonists from the previous album, to return control of the house to Them in exchange for the chance to see his now-dead sister Missy again, as he believes she can help answer some of his questions. ("Sleepless Nights") He attends sessions with a therapist named Dr. Landau, who he despises, distrusts, and lies to; Landau suggests letting King's mother visit the House of Amon, and King reluctantly agrees. ("Lies") That night, Missy appears to him in a vision ("A Visit From The Dead") and warns him through a dream where he sees Landau marrying his mother. ("The Wedding Dream") The next day, King's mother indeed arrives accompanied by Dr. Landau; despite King's protestations about the deal with "Them", they enter the house, and King is ambushed and sedated by his mother and the doctor. ("Amon Belongs To Them") They then go to the local demented priest Sammael, and convince him that King is possessed by Satan and must be disposed of ("Victimized"); they put King in a coffin and burn him ("Let It Be Done"), and the album closes with King's promise to haunt them forever from beyond the grave. ("Cremation")

Track listing

"The Wedding Dream" contains the elements of "

Bridal Chorus The "Bridal Chorus" () from the 1850 opera '' Lohengrin'' by German composer Richard Wagner, who also wrote the libretto, is a march played for the bride's entrance at many formal weddings throughout the Western world. In English-speaking countries ...

" by Richard Wagner in the introduction.

Personnel

– vocals, keyboards, producer, mixing *

Andy LaRocque Andy LaRocque (born Anders Allhage, 29 November 1962) is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter, and producer, best known as a member of the heavy metal band King Diamond since 1985. Biography LaRocque started in the Swedish hard rock band Swedish Bea ...

– guitars, producer *Pete Blakk – guitars *Hal Patino – bass ;Additional personnel *

– drums *Roberto Falcao – keyboards, producer, engineer, mixing Production *

Chris Tsangarides Christopher Andrew Tsangarides (17 August 1956 – 6 January 2018) was a British Grammy-nominated record producer, sound engineer, and mixer of Greek Cypriot origin. He was best known for his work with many heavy metal artists, including G ...

– guitar solos producer, mixing * Gina Immel – assistant engineer *

Howie Weinberg Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer with over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize. Career Weinberg mastered Herbie Hancock's 1983 album '' Future Shock''. Other ...

– mastering at Masterdisk, New York

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conspiracy (King Diamond Album) King Diamond albums 1989 albums Concept albums Albums produced by Chris Tsangarides Roadrunner Records albums Rock operas