It is Oct 13th as I have begun writing these reviews. The days are getting shorter and the leaves have begun to fall, jack o lanterns and goblins decorate the neighborhood…It must be that time again for King Diamond to release (in this case re-release) another album of horrifying heavy metal for the Halloween season.

I think it’s fair to say "Spider’s Lullabye" and "Graveyard" are King’s overlooked and most underrated albums. Even at their time of release ("Spider’s" in 19995, "Graveyard" 1996), "Spider’s" suffered from a fuzzy mix and the drums were tingy.

On "Graveyard" the bass was turned waay up and the mix was muddy, plus the artwork for both was plain and low budget. Remastering (done by King Diamond guitarist Andy La Rocque )both albums ("Voodoo" and "House of God" are soon to follow) should give this neglected period some more respect. Granted, "Spider’s Lullabye" and "Graveyard" are not masterpieces like "Abigail", "Them" (regardless of its thin sound), and "Conspiracy", but still musically solid and all around terrifying King Diamond storytelling. I’d say "Spider’s" and "Graveyard" are on par with "The Eye" in many respects because they slightly follow a linear musical path and incorporate the harpsichord into several songs.

Following 1990’s "The Eye", a concept album about the witch burnings during the French Inquisition, King retuned to writing a record like "Fatal Portrait", one primarily containing individual tales. The first half of "Spiders" includes noteworthy compositions like ‘The Poltergeist’ with its creepy harpsichord, accenting guitars and haunting vocal melodies nicely combining both Mercyful Fate (oddly enough as I noted "Fatal Portrait") and King Diamond musical templates. ‘Dreams’ opens with guitars aggressively like something off "Conspiracy" and again King spins (pun intended) a web of layered vocals/melodies. After the charging ‘Six Feet Under’, The Spider’s Lullabye story begins about poor Harry and his fear of eight legged arachnids. Simple, yet chilling keys set the tone for the title track establishing the appropriate mood. ‘Eastmann’s Cure’ has a progressive "Them" type arrangement and melody line, ‘Room 17’ again utilizes more macabre keys and ‘To The Morgue’ closes out the album (and Harry’s life) with a doomy dark riff.

The cover artwork has been spruced up a bit and the booklet includes a few live shots of King with re printed lyrics. Also included is a website address where you can download a bootleg live performance of the song ‘The Spider’s Lullabye’.

The remastering definitely cleans up the original mix now forming a cohesive sound, removing the mud adding a warmer punch to the bass and drums. I never liked "Spider’s Lullabye" original mix when it was released and this is an improvement. Similar situation to Nevermore’s "Enemies Of Reality".

"Graveyard" topically is clearly King’s darkest and most disturbing tale, about a young girl who is molested by her own father. Intro title track is simple but sweet with music fitting for a 1960s Hammer horror movie. ‘Black Hills Sanitarium’ and ‘Waiting’, written in the first person, tells of the main character (who King plays as himself) planning an escape from his prison. ‘Heads On The Wall’ is a twisting progressive terror as the arrangement builds momentum hitting peaks and valleys through the verses and chorus, and solo section. Excellent!

The second act; ‘I’m Not A Stranger’, about King’s character and his new young "friend" Lucy (daughter of mayor McKenzie), is one of the more melodic rockers, 6:56 minute ‘Digging Graves’, with great riffs and soloing ‘Meet Me At Midnight’ is a musical standout, and a slower tempo ‘Sleep Tight Little Baby’ sees King waiting at the cemetery gates for McKenzie to arrive.

‘Trick or Treat’ and ‘Up From The Grave’ work well together and were performed as such live (which you can see by going to the website address included in the booklet). I’m not telling you how the story ends but ‘I Am’ and ‘Lucy Forever’ closes the album.

"Graveyard" beginning to end is a strong album regardless of the useless 30 second ‘Whispers’ and average ‘Daddy’. Like "Spiders", "Graveyard" benefits from the remastering also sporting a warmer clearer sound now, not sooo bass heavy with the drums closer to the foreground and not buried in the background. The new cover artwork, and booklet, is much much better expanding on the original design.

Of these four remastered King Diamond albums "Voodoo" is my favorite hands down and clearly the strongest. It is flawless. As of now, I have come to appreciate "Spider’s Lullabye" much more and it could be in 2nd place, but I gotta tell ya after revisiting "Graveyard" it’s a tough one. "House of God" while strong on its own merits; being more so progressive and melodic, is the bridge between the "Spider’s", "Graveyard", and "Voodoo" period with "Abigail II: The Revenge" (2002), "The Puppetmaster" (2002), and "Give Me Your Soul...Please?" (2007).