Origin:	Kristianstad, Sweden
Genres:	Traditional Metal

Portrait

Given how dominant Mercyful Fate was in the 80's (and how most every other 80's band has hordes of imitators), it's a bit surprising there aren't more bands that take their cue from King Diamond's clan. Enter Sweden's Portrait, formed in 2004 and with two albums to their credit as of this writing, the latest being 2011's Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae. The vocals alone would be enough to bring out the MF comparisons, as Per Karlsson does a more than passable King imitation and in particular isn't afraid to soar into the higher-pitch realms that King did so well back in the day. The guitars, too, have that distinctive Denner/Shermann tone, and while the riffs stop short of plagiarism, that can't be coincidental. Sure, things are a bit more modern overall, this isn't total retro worship, but there's no denying where Portrait's primary influence comes from. And in this case that's a good thing, the songwriting is up to par, and there's enough going on to mark this band as more than a one-note copycat.