New York treats straightforward hard rock and clean-toned, mesmeric guitar as blank pages on which to lay down a series of news stories, urban setpieces, and liberal-minded principles.
Released in 1986, Fatal Portrait is the debut King Diamond album, unusually not a conceptual affair, although five of the songs link to form a short ghost story, a theme that would be returned to again and again over subsequent releases.
It has been a worrying and scary time for all of us as the Western empire and the natural world, which have cradled us for so long are genuinely threatened. This album is a personal navigation through those fears and preparation for what comes next.