On November 30th Danish shock rock master KING DIAMOND will be returning to Las Vegas to perform at The Theater at Virgin Hotel on the Saint Lucifer’s Hospital 1920 tour. This exciting tour will feature additional vocals by fellow Danish black metal artist, Myrkur on King Diamond’s set, with opening sets by Night Demon, who is a piece of the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal, and the (in my opinion) underrated thrash legends, OVERKILL.
Openers – Night Demon & Overkill
I’m going to go ahead and assume that Night Demon will be our first band of the evening. Night Demon is an American heavy metal band from Ventura, CA. As mentioned above, they are listed in the grouping of bands labeled the “New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal.” (This list included bands like Enforcer and Haunt, who we have covered in the past.) The bands in this niche of the metal scene are some of the easier types to get into, in my opinion. This genre largely encompasses elements from classics like Black Sabbath or Deep Purple, so you get those darker heavier ish tones without the aggressive guttural vocals that are associated with many bands in other metal subgenres.
Night Demon might sound like a scary name, but they’ve got a sound that you could easily hear on any hard rock radio station.
Night Demon released their last album, Outsider in 2023, and from what I’ve heard, I’m excited to see this band perform this material on this run.
Second on this bill, OVERKILL. The last time I caught Overkill was on their headlining tour last year with Exhorder and Heathen, and I was also at both shows they headlined Brooklyn Bowl (2017 & 2020). There are so many positive things I can say about this band. I have been lucky enough to see them many times through the years. I’ve always gotten the impression that they’re a little bit of outliers of thrash metal. Vocalist Bobby Blitz is a force to be reckoned with and let’s be honest… with all that man has been through, he is goddamn indestructible.
This band always puts on a great show for those diehards of the thrash scene. Bobby is one of those run around the stage types, which is impressive all on its own. His energy is contagious and I think it’ll be a really great energy amp for this overall lineup.
Overkill released their last album in April of 2023, titled Scorched on Nuclear Blast Records. It received generally good reviews across the board.
King Diamond has not had any new albums since their 12th full release in 2007, titled Give Me Your Soul… Please but I guarantee that’s not going to stop The Theater at Virgin from being packed with all of the diehard fans of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate. My husband and I got to catch the latter at the last Psychofest, and LET ME TELL YOU. What an insane set that was.
There was a single release in November of 2019 titled, Masquerade of Madness and then in the midst of covid, things came to a halt. Just last year, though… The music video for this single was released and fans have been eagerly waiting for more from The King.
As far as what to expect with a King Diamond performance… Any simple search can give you a general idea of what could possibly be in store. I’m sure to expect a MASSIVE theatrical stage set up with all the spookiest of spooky themes, and I’m pretty excited for that. The Theater’s stage is pretty big, and they’ll have A LOT of room to work with here. Blabbermouth noted that there are TWO new tracks being played on this tour, so that by itself adds another element of ultra excitement.
Fellow Danish singer Myrkur (Amalie Bruun), is listed on the flier as providing additional background vocals for King Diamond, as well as playing an organ.
King Diamond says about this tour cycle:
“This is Saint Lucifer’s Hospital, enter if you dare! We have been busy putting this ever-growing horror story together, and it’s still growing. I know the end of it, but how we will get there will be a long trip. There are so many characters, and so many unexpected things along this journey. It’s a crazy family on another timeline in 1920, where I experienced some hard times, and they have to come to our time to steal from us to survive. This is the most elaborate thing we have ever done, that goes for the stage production as well.”
We are extremely excited to see The King back in Vegas to showcase all the madness to take place. Will we see you step into the asylum?
See you in the pit, Vegas.